Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, will serve as a temporary Minister of Foreign Affairs, for the duration of Israel Beitenu head Avigdor Liberman, who is unable to hold a cabinet post while he is on trial. The appointment was announced late Friday afternoon by Natan Eshel, who will replace Danny Ayalon as the foreign ministry’s chief of staff.
“The Prime Minister and Mrs. Netanyahu reached this decision together,” Eshel told reporters outside the Netanyahu residence in Jerusalem.
Although it is common for cabinet ministers to be Knesset members, the law allows the prime minister to appoint anyone he wishes to any cabinet post, provided they receive the Knesset’s approval.
The unexpected appointment should satisfy the embattled Liberman, who made it clear he wants to resume command of the foreign ministry, which he headed throughout the previous government, as soon as the court clears him of charges of corruption. Liberman’s trial is scheduled for late April.
According to Eshel, Foreign Minister Sara Netanyahu is planning to begin her stint in office with a grand tour of Western Europe, introducing herself to heads of state from Berlin to Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and London, and then to visit major cities on the United States, including New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Mrs. Netanyahu was not available to comment.
This has been a Purim prank…