It has been confirmed by the BBC that Eylon Levy, who serves as the English-language government spokesman for Israel, has been suspended. There has been no explanation provided by the office of the Israeli Prime Minister. However, it is widely believed that the decision was influenced by a recent online dispute with Lord Cameron, who serves as the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom. So yet, Mr. Levy has not provided any comments.
On March 8, he responded to another post on X that had been deleted by Lord Cameron, which urged Israel “to allow more aid trucks into Gaza.” He wrote the post on X, which has since been deleted. I hope you are also aware there are NO limits on the entry of food, water, medicine, or shelter equipment into Gaza, and in fact the crossings have EXCESS capacity,” Mr. Levy responded in response. Put us down. He continued by saying, “Send another one hundred trucks a day to Kerem Shalom, and we will enable them to enter.” He was referring to a border crossing that is under Israeli control.
Earlier, on the second day, he had made another post in which he expressed his disapproval of a statement that Lord Cameron had published following his meeting with an Israeli minister in London. On Tuesday that Mr. Levy was suspended shortly after the United Kingdom Foreign Office wrote to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to express its “surprise” and ask clarification on whether or not Mr. Levy’s posts represented the official position of the Israeli government. The question posed by the British government was described as “Is this the way allies speak to each other?” according to a source who was aware with the situation, as reported by the Financial Times.
The Israeli media reported on Thursday that Mr. Levy had been suspended from his position by the office of the Prime Minister. The BBC confirmed these allegations. In the immediate aftermath, Mr. Levy did not provide a reaction. However, in a number of posts that he made on X on Tuesday, he referred to himself as a spokesperson for the Israeli government. The year 2014 marked Mr. Levy’s arrival in Israel, despite the fact that he was born in the United Kingdom.
His most recent position was as an international media consultant to President Isaac Herzog. Prior to that, he worked as a television news presenter and served in the Israeli Defense Ministry agency known as Cogat, which is responsible for overseeing policies regarding the Palestinian territories. He gained to popularity on a global scale after becoming a government spokesperson in the aftermath of Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7 and the beginning of the war in Gaza. He was also regularly interviewed by English-language networks, particularly the BBC, which contributed to his rise to prominence.
During a discussion with two parliamentary committees that took place behind closed doors on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allegedly made some disparaging remarks about Israel’s public diplomacy efforts that are conducted in the English language. As reported by Channel 12, he was quoted as adding, “There simply are no people.” In the English language, you are surrounded by people who are incapable of putting two words together. His office stated that he “deeply values the work of his team and of the Public Diplomacy Directorate that operates under him” in reaction to the report that was released.
