Minister Miki Zohar appeared Saturday night on Channel 12 News, addressing the uproar surrounding the World Zionist Organization elections and the proposed appointment of Yair Netanyahu to a senior position - an appointment that triggered fierce criticism from opposition parties and was ultimately delayed.
Zohar said he independently decided to nominate the Prime Minister’s son as head of the WZO’s Public Diplomacy Department. “I came to the conclusion that I want to bring change to national institutions and improve them. I offered him the position myself, and when he agreed, I was very pleased,” he stated.
According to Zohar, opposition representatives were notified of the appointment two to three hours before the process began. The controversy only erupted once Netanyahu’s name was disclosed to the committee. “The media launched a character assassination campaign, and then Yesh Atid folded,” he claimed.
Zohar also described his conversation with the Prime Minister regarding the matter: “He was anxious about it and worried people would assume he was involved. I told him, ‘You’re not involved.’ He wasn’t exactly enthusiastic, but he didn’t make the decision - it was me and his son.”
He defended Yair Netanyahu’s qualifications for the role, stating, “He’s engaged in Zionist advocacy and is an articulate speaker. He would earn a salary and work for it. He’s returning to Israel. He would be barred from political activity - if appointed, he wouldn’t be tweeting or involved in politics. This could have been a very positive appointment. But when it comes to the populism surrounding the Netanyahu family - everyone jumps on board.”
Addressing a recent confrontation with Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf, which nearly turned physical and was filmed and circulated online, Zohar accused “the media fanatics of Otzma Yehudit” of being behind the footage. “I’m not fazed by these campaigns - Likudniks are smarter than Ben Gvir thinks,” Zohar said. “They brought the Prime Minister from his sickbed just for a headline. They need to understand that threats don’t work - if they threaten me, they’ll get nothing.”
The Yesh Atid party responded, saying, “The statements by Likud’s job-dealer, Minister Miki Zohar, are a complete lie. From the moment we learned of the disgraceful decision to appoint the Prime Minister’s son to a senior role, Yesh Atid blew up the negotiations. We will not allow someone who fled Israel during wartime, who incites and divides Israeli society from abroad, to represent the country. We will continue to fight for our values - for our truth.”