#Israel #Morocco #ZivAgmon #Mizrahis #BenyaminNetanyahu
Ziv Agmon, the acting chief of staff and spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, resigned on Wednesday following a damning report in which he was quoted making a series of derogatory comments about the prime minister, his wife Sara, Likud lawmakers, and Mizrahi Jews.
Agmon’s resignation came hours after Channel 12 News published remarks attributed to him from private conversations. In his resignation statement, Agmon claimed the comments were made before he assumed his role in the Prime Minister’s Office, taken out of context, and part of a « character assassination » attempt against him.
« Anyone who knows me and my work with the prime minister knows full well that the words attributed to me regarding Mizrahi communities are completely foreign to me—not least because a large part of my own family is of Mizrahi and Moroccan descent, » Agmon said prior to his resignation. He added that he decided to step down because the reports had generated « divisive discourse » around him.
According to the Channel 12 report, Agmon made a series of disparaging remarks in closed conversations. Regarding tourism to Morocco, he was quoted as saying, « It’s not good that Morocco was opened to Israeli tourism—now we know where our Moroccans came from: Africa. A baboon is a monkey. »
He allegedly referred to Likud MK Nissim Vaturi as a « baboon » and MK Eliyahu Revivo as a « retarded Moroccan. » The report also quoted him lamenting the Likud party list, saying, « Who would even know these people? What a bunch of baboons. Too bad the entire list can’t be reserved and the primaries scrapped. »
Agmon, who is considered close to Sara Netanyahu, was also quoted making critical remarks about her influence. « The stupid female lawmakers understand that only flattery works with Sara; they fight over it all the time, » he allegedly said.
Beyond insults directed at lawmakers, Agmon was quoted as making stark assessments of Netanyahu’s leadership following the October 7 attack by Hamas. « Bibi is finished. The question is whether there will still be a state. He must go home, » he said, according to the report. He also allegedly addressed pre-war intelligence reports that Egypt had warned Israel of an impending attack, saying, « Likud has ended its career. The Egyptians need to release the recording of the call with Bibi—he’s finished. »
Agmon had held two key positions in the Prime Minister’s Office during wartime, a concentration of roles that underscored Netanyahu’s reported difficulty in recruiting new figures to his inner circle. He replaced Tzachi Braverman as head of the Prime Minister’s Office several months ago and was appointed spokesman in July.
His tenure was also connected to ongoing legal issues surrounding the prime minister’s office. Reporting to Agmon is Omer Mansour, who was previously investigated alongside Braverman in the so-called « nighttime meeting affair »—a case linked to warnings about an investigation into the leak of classified documents to a German newspaper, known as the « Bibileaks » case.
In his resignation statement, Agmon sought to distance himself from the comments, insisting they were conveyed by a friend, made prior to his government appointment, and manipulated to cause harm. Despite his defense, his departure marks the latest high-level turnover in Netanyahu’s administration amid ongoing wartime pressures and internal political tensions.