Netanyahu Made a Huge Mistake in Suspending Eylon Levy

In a terrible PR decision, Eylon Levy — the brilliant spokesperson for the Israeli government — has been suspended by the Prime Minister’s Office after Levy’s response to British Foreign Secretary David Cameron regarding humanitarian aid provoked anger.

Whether the UK or anyone else in the world likes it, Levy is a very effective spokesman for Israel, and suspending him is a bad decision. There were also reports that Netanyahu’s wife had pushed for the ouster because of Levy’s past criticism of Netanyahu.

As the owner of one of the world’s leading independent PR firms, I know that Eylon is a native English speaker, quick-thinking, intelligent, quotable, and is doing simply a brilliant job. Eylon should be given many more opportunities to defend Israel — not taken off the case.

The Zionist prophet Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the ideological forefather of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, said about the importance of Public Relations: “The work of the publicist is a legacy from the Prophets of Israel … Our passion is to speak, to proclaim … One thing that the audience forgets is that speech is also an action — perhaps the most authentic of all other actions. Cities have been destroyed, and more will fall, but what was shouted in the wilderness thousands of years ago is alive and still relevant. The world was created by the word. The world will be mended by the article.”

Eylon Levy has been doing just that. From his raised eyebrows to battling absurd media questions, he fights day and night against a biased media as he brilliantly articulates Israel’s point of view on the world stage.

He has mastered the art of pushing back in a world where Israel is regularly condemned, saying in a recent interview, “It’s true that the role of the media is to challenge speakers with controversial opinions but it is also to filter out the bull*** and to know when you have been told nonsense that requires no further comment.”

That is the way of the media.

News of Eylon’s suspension came on the same day that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bemoaned the fact that Israel had a dearth of spokespeople who could “string two words together” in English. Well, Mr. Prime Minister, Eylon Levy was the best we have had in many years. Reinstate him today.

Ronn Torossian is an Israeli-American Public Relations executive.