Ex-Israel PM slams appointment of Arab lawmaker as consul general to China

Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday described the appointment of Arab Knesset member, Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi of the Meretz Party, as the consul general to China as “scandalous.”

“It is not acceptable that someone who represents the State of Israel to one of the most important world powers will be someone who does not recognise Israel as a Jewish state and someone who opposes our national anthem,” Netanyahu told Walla.

He called on the Israeli government to cancel this “shameful appointment today.”

Forty-nine-year-old Zoabi is a prominent activist for Arab Israeli rights and a businesswoman who served as executive director of the Injaz – Center for Professional Arab Local Governance. She was named in 2018 as one of the 50 most influential women in Israel by Forbes.

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid announced that she had been appointed as Israel’s Consul General in Shanghai, China. Lapid and other officials hailed the move as Zoabi is the first Arab woman to head an Israeli diplomatic mission.

Analysts have however said the measure was a means for Zoabi to be expelled from the Knesset as a result of her rebellious actions. This way, she will have little impact on Israeli politics. In fact, she was removed from her public position as an MK to be buried in an overseas office swamped with a backlog of heavy work.

READ: Israel expels Arab MK from Knesset by appointing her in China