JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced Friday that retired Brig. Gen. Michael Herzog will serve as Israel’s next ambassador to the US. Herzog, the older brother of Israeli president Yitzchak Herzog, fought in the Yom Kippur war and later joined the Intelligence Corps where his father Chaim Herzog had served and reached the rank of Brigadier General, holding the position of head of the army’s Strategic Planning Division as well as military secretary and chief of staff to four different defense ministers before his retirement from army service in 1994. Since then Herzog has participated in many of the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, including those which took place in 2013-14 under Prime Minister Netanyahu and those between Israel and Jordan in 1994 and with Syria during the same period.
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Herzog’s appointment will be brought before the cabinet for its approval as early as Sunday, according to a coalition source close to the prime minister.
Prime Minister Bennett approved the appointment of Herzog “in light of his rich and long experience in the security and political arenas along with his in-depth knowledge of the strategic issues facing the State of Israel, especially the Iranian nuclear program,” according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also welcomed the announcement, calling Herzog “exactly the right person to serve in this strategically important role.”
“I look forward to working with him to further strengthen and deepen the Israel-US relationship,” Lapid said.
Right-wing MKs reacted with alarm to the appointment. Members of the Land of Israel caucus from the Likud and Religious Zionism sent a letter to Prime Minister Bennett warning him to stop the appointment since Herzog is “working to promote the idea of a two state solution.”
“Handing the keys to relations with the US administration to a person actively pursuing the dangerous idea of two states and a continuation of withdrawals from parts of the land of Israel is a decision which coincides with the principles of the left-wing of your government and will unquestionably lead to the promotion of its disastrous diplomatic policies,” MKs Yoav Kisch (Likud) and Orit Struck (Religious Zionism) wrote, adding that “we call on you to stop this dangerous appointment and not allow the left to take control of the critical relations between Israel and the US. The people of Israel voted overwhelmingly for a right-wing policy which eschews the establishment of a Palestinian state.”