ISRAEL has approved Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff, who was investigated by police for allegedly tampering with official documents, as the new ambassador to the UK.
Tzachi Braverman, one of Netanyahu’s closest advisers, was previously questioned by police over allegations he altered documents relating to the October 7 2023 attack to paint the Israeli prime minister in a better light, the BBC reported at the time.
Braverman is suspected of altering the time stamp of a phone call when Netanyahu was supposed to have first received an update on the Hamas attack from his military secretary.
Israel’s cabinet approved Braverman’s appointment ahead of the UK recognising Palestine as a state.
He will replace Tzipi Hotovely, who has been in the post since 2020, Sky News reports.
Braverman’s appointment will have to be signed off by the UK Government, and it is unlikely that they would reject a diplomat.
The process will take several months, and Braverman will likely arrive in London in November if approved.
Last year, Braverman was accused of changing the time of a phone call from 06:40 to 06:29 in a transcript where Netanyahu was informed that the October 7 attack had begun.
He denies having altered the transcript other than to change the time, claiming it was incorrect.
Earlier this year, nearly 200,000 people signed a petition to expel Hotovely (above) as Israeli ambassador to the UK.
She repeatedly rejected the notion of a two-state solution and once called the Nakba – when 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced and more than 500 Palestinian cities, towns and villages were destroyed by Israel in 1948 during the country’s formation – an "Arab lie".
