Netanyahu's spokesman Liran Dan steps down

Netanyahu thanked Dan for his “excellent, professional and devoted work,' and said that in the face of great challenges he exhibited “great talent, responsibility, creativity and innovation.”

Benjamin Netanyahu and former spokesperson Liran Dan (photo credit: PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE)
Benjamin Netanyahu and former spokesperson Liran Dan
(photo credit: PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief spokesman, Liran Dan, announced on Sunday he will be stepping down after some threeand- a-half years in that position.
Dan, a former Channel 2 journalist with an even temper and mild manner in an extremely high-pressured position, came to the Prime Minister’s Office in 2011. In the beginning of 2012, Dan became Netanyahu’s chief spokesman, after Yoaz Hendel resigned in the wake of the Natan Eshel affair.
Prior to Dan’s promotion, Netanyahu had four spokesmen in some three years – Nir Hefetz, Gidi Schmerling, Roni Sofer and Hendel.
Dan, the longest-serving spokesman for an Israeli prime minister since Avi Pazner held that position under prime minister Yitzhak Shamir some 25 years ago, started in the Prime Minister’s Office shortly after the storming of the embassy in Cairo in September 2011. Since he began serving as Netanyahu’s spokesman, there have been three chiefs-of staff, two cabinet secretaries, two director- generals and two national security advisers in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Netanyahu thanked Dan for his “excellent, professional and devoted work,” and said that in the face of great challenges, he exhibited “great talent, responsibility, creativity and innovation.”
Dan thanked Netanyahu for his confidence and support, and said that during his stint as spokesman and head of the National Information Directorate, he learned something “new and of value” every day.
His resignation will go into effect with the swearing in of the new government. Dan, the father of two small children, plans to enter the private sector.