Racist remarks attributed to a close aide of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have caused a political stir in Israel, after Channel 12 News on Tuesday revealed disparaging comments about Mizrahi Jews.
Released recordings feature Ziv Agmon, Netanyahu’s personal spokesperson and interim chief of staff, making a series of offensive statements about members of the prime minister’s own Likud party, several of whom are of Mizrahi descent.
“It’s not good that Morocco was opened for Israeli tourism,” Agmon said in one recording, “now we know from where our Moroccans are from. From Africa. Baboon is a monkey.”
In another, he referred to Likud MP Nissim Vaturi as a “baboon” and described fellow MP Eliyahu Revivo as a “retarded Moroccan”. Both men are of Mizrahi origin.
Agmon also questioned how such figures were elected to parliament, suggesting that his party primaries should be scrapped in favour of hand-picked candidates.
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“Who would even know these people? What a bunch of baboons,” he said. He also dimissed Likud lawmaker Eli Dallal, a Mizrahi, as “a nobody”.
The remarks have reignited longstanding tensions around ethnic divisions within Israeli society.
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Mizrahim is a term used in Israel to describe Jews whose families originate from Muslim-majority countries in North Africa and the Middle East. Following the establishment of Israel in 1948, many Mizrahi Jews immigrated to the country, where they have historically faced discrimination from the predominantly Ashkenazi, European-origin leadership.
Discrimination against Mizrahi Jews persists today, with a recent study showing significant gaps between Mizrahim and Ashkenazim in both personal income and access to higher education.
Likud is widely seen as the party that represents Mizrahim, despite never having had a leader of Mizrahi descent. Netanyahu, an Ashkenazi, has led the party for most of the past three decades. Last month, his close ally, journalist Yaakov Bardugo, said in an interview that “there is a Mizrahi person at the head of Likud, his name is Benjamin Netanyahu”.
Similarly, Regional Cooperation Minister Dudi Amsalem said last month that the majority of Likud voters are Mizrahim, arguing that the party’s values “resonate” with Mizrahi Jews who have Middle Eastern and Arabic cultural background.
‘Unfit to serve the public’
According to Channel 12, Agmon also attacked the Likud and made comments about Netanyahu and his family in recordings dating back several years.
The report also said he remarked in one instance that “we should publish a job ad for ‘rapists and murderers’ for the Likud Knesset list, since there’s already a thief, a burglar and a kidnapper”.
In comments made after the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023, Agmon said Netanyahu “is finished” and “needs to step down”.
“I wonder who will handle the hostage negotiations, [Minister of Communications Shlomo] Karhi or Amsalem? The country is falling apart,” Agmon said, referring to Likud ministers of Mizrahi origin.
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In another recording, Agmon said “the Likud is finished” and suggested that Egypt should release recordings of conversations with Netanyahu, implying prior warnings about the 7 October attack.
Agmon was also quoted as making disparaging remarks about Sara Netanyahu, the prime minister’s wife. “The stupid female lawmakers understand that only flattery works with Sara; they fight over it all the time,” he said.
Israeli media reported on Wednesday that Netanyahu is seeking a replacement for Agmon, who is expected to be removed from his post.
Agmon has denied holding racist views, telling Channel 12 that he has been “seriously wronged”.
“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,” he said.
However, several Likud figures targeted in the recordings have called for his dismissal.
“Anyone who speaks this way about Mizrahi communities, about Moroccans, didn’t ‘misspeak’, he simply said out loud what he truly thinks,” Revivo wrote on X.
“A person like this is unfit to serve the public anywhere, not even for one more minute. Anyone who chooses to keep him around or act through him shares those views,” he added, without naming Netanyahu.
Energy Minister Eli Cohen said that Agmon’s racist remarks “deserve unequivocal condemnation and he cannot hold a public position”.
Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, which mainly represents Mizrahi interests, also criticised Netanyahu’s response, saying his “silence” on the matter “deeply saddens me”.
In one of the recordings, Agmon accused Shas of focusing solely on extracting money for its own needs.
“Every moment that Bibi (Netanyahu) does not dismiss him will leave a stain on him that will not fade,” Deri added.