The cabinet on Sunday unanimously approved Tzachi Braverman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff, as Israel’s next ambassador in London, the Foreign Ministry said.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar thanked outgoing ambassador Tzipi Hotovely for her work, according to the ministry. Hotovely’s term ended last week, and the same day, the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee tapped Braverman to replace her, pending cabinet approval.

Braverman has been the prime minister’s chief of staff since April 2022, when Netanyahu served as the opposition leader. Braverman kept the job when Likud won the national election later that year and Netanyahu became prime minister. Previously, Braverman served as Netanyahu’s cabinet secretary in 2016-2021.

Braverman is under investigation for suspected forgery and fraud over alleged record tampering in the Prime Minister’s Office, and has been questioned by police.

He is suspected of having altered the stated time at which Netanyahu first received an update on the October 7 Hamas invasion via phone call from his military secretary at the time, Maj. Gen. Avi Gil, allegedly changing it from 6:40 a.m. to 6:29 a.m.

According to Channel 12, Braverman allegedly first attempted to persuade a stenographer to change the time written in the transcript, insisting that it was incorrectly stated as 6:40 a.m., but she refused, and he then changed it himself.

Netanyahu’s office at the time firmly denied the allegations of Braverman’s misconduct, calling them “another complete fabrication that is also part of an unprecedented media witch hunt against the Prime Minister’s Office during wartime, designed to whitewash the grave failures of others on the night of October 7.”

Braverman, too, has strongly denied the allegations, calling them “severe slander” and “wild incitement,” and threatened to sue Kan if it did not retract the allegations and issue a public apology after the network named him in connection with the blackmail case. Kan stood by its reporting.

Holding a law degree from Bar-Ilan University, Braverman began his career as the spokesman of the Ness Ziona municipality and director general of its educational and cultural institutions before moving to national politics, heading up Likud’s election campaign in 2013.

The Foreign Ministry announcement on Braverman came just a few hours before London announced its recognition of a Palestinian state, a move that is expected to significantly impact ties between Israel and the UK.

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in July that the recognition would come unless Israel ended the Gaza war. Israel has slammed the development as rewarding the October 7 Hamas attack.