Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman and acting chief of staff, Ziv Agmon, was accused of making racist statements, belittling Likud Party members, and speaking against the prime minister and his family, according to a Channel 12 investigative report on Tuesday, leading to calls for his dismissal from across the political spectrum.
Agmon rose quickly in the ranks, Channel 12‘s Amit Segal reported. He started out at an outside position dealing with wartime public relations, then became a spokesman for Netanyahu, then chief spokesman and finally acting chief of staff when Tzachi Braverman was suspended as part of an inquiry into whether he had obstructed an investigation.
"[Agmon] is the man who separates Netanyahu from the rest of the world, and sometimes also Netanyahu from the rest of the office,” Segal said in his report on “Main Edition,” Channel 12‘s prime-time news hour.
Agmon’s meteoric rise may soon come crashing to earth. The prime minister is reportedly considering firing him after the revelations.
The report, based on a series of conversations, including by phone, accused Agmon of using racist rhetoric when referring to Moroccan Jews and their public figures. “It’s not good that Morocco was opened to Israeli tourism. Now we know where our Moroccans came from. From Africa. A baboon is a monkey,” he reportedly said.
Agmon used the same racist terminology against Likud Knesset members, calling MK Nissim Vaturi (who told JNS in February that “seventy percent of Likud party members are of Moroccan origin”) a “baboon” and MK Eliyahu Revivo, “a retarded Moroccan.” Agmon reportedly added: “It is not clear how these people were elected to the Knesset.”
After running for a position in the Likud primaries and losing to Osher Shekalim, he said in a telephone conversation, “We need to publish a statement. Rapists and murderers are needed for the Likud list for the Knesset. For there is already a thief, a burglar and a kidnapper.”
Agmon expressed interest in jumping to another party, Blue and White. “I want a place on [Benny] Gantz’s list. I’m really much more suitable for him than the monkeys,” he reportedly said.
Regarding the Shas Party, an ultra-Orthodox party and Netanyahu coalition partner, he said, “This party only knows how to take money.”
After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas invasion, Agmon reportedly held Netanyahu responsible and he “has to go home.” He also expressed hostility to Netanyahu’s family.
Reaction to the report came swiftly. Justice Minister Yariv Levin said, “In the State of Israel, and in the Likud movement in particular, there is no place for racism.”
MK Revivo said, “There are moments when the mask falls off and the ugly truth is exposed. Anyone who speaks like this about members of the Mizrachi [eastern Jewish] communities, about Moroccans, did not ‘make a slip of the tongue.’ He simply said out loud what he thinks in his heart.
“Such a person is not worthy of serving the public anywhere, not even for one more minute. Anyone who chooses to let him stay in his surroundings or as his emissary thinks like him.”
MK Vaturi said, “The frustrated Ziv Agmon, who was not elected to the Knesset after a number of attempts, if things are true, should be sent home now.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid Party said, “The racism in Netanyahu’s closest circle is a disgrace to the Prime Minister’s Office. How can it be that there are still people who talk like that? It is clear that the prime minister will fire him after this was published, but the real question is how he progressed and how this talk is accepted in the circles closest to the prime minister.”
Yair Golan, head of the far-left Democrats, posted to social media: “Disgusting and outrageous statements coming out of the prime minister’s office. Netanyahu surrounds himself with racists, criminals and despicable people. The fish rots from the head.”
The Prime Minister’s Office issued a response on behalf of Agmon: “I do not intend to comment on all the nonsense attributed to me tonight, but I could not go over one thing in silence. Anyone who knows me and my work with the prime minister knows very well that the words allegedly attributed to me in connection with the Mizrachi community are from cowards, and not only because a large part of my family is of Mizrachi and Moroccan descent. I have been wronged here.”
