Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, will remain in London for the full three years of her posting, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid’s office confirmed on Monday.
Hotovely said that she is “happy to have the honor to represent the State of Israel as Ambassador to Britain.”
“I was sent on a three-year mission, and it is good that Minister Lapid made it publicly clear that he has no intention of changing that,” she added.
Hotovely, a former Likud MK and deputy foreign minister, was a political appointee of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The appointment was authorized by the cabinet last summer and Hotovely is under contract with the Foreign Ministry.
Lapid had initially expressed to Hotovely that he would like her to resign, reportedly to replace her with former Yesh Atid MK Yael German, who has since been appointed ambassador to France.
Hotovely, however, wished to remain in London for the next two years and reportedly hired lawyers to defend her position.
A source close to Lapid said that once Hotovely said she would insist on remaining, he backed down and told her last week that he won’t replace her. To begin with, he said, replacing Hotovely was not a high-priority issue.
Lapid has not had any issues working with Hotovely, likes her personally, and had a good relationship with her in their years in the Knesset, the source added. They have spoken on the phone several times since Lapid became foreign minister in June.
Lapid has made several political appointments since entering office, including German, former minister Asaf Zamir as consul-general in New York, former Yesh Atid MK Ronen Hoffman as ambassador to Canada, Israel Hotel Association president Amir Hayek as ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and former Yesh Atid MK Shimon Solomon as ambassador to Angola.