With Avigdor Liberman’s announcement that Yisrael Beytenu will not join the government, Likud ministers are jumping for the foreign affairs portfolio, but one MK is more interested in the Absorption Ministry. 

“The Prime Minister will make history if he gives me the absorption portfolio,” Dr. Avraham Nagosa, an Ethiopian activist turned Likud MK, told Channel Two on Monday, against the backdrop of ongoing protests over the discrimination of Ethiopian Jews. 

Born in Ethiopia in 1958, Nagosa immigrated to Israel in 1985, where he began a long career in public service. The founder and director of South Wing to Zion, an organization representing Ethiopian immigrants, Nagosa has been a member of both Jewish Home and Likud, finally being elected to the Knesset in March 2015 as number 27 on the Likud list. 

Looking to provide increased representation for his community in Israel’s government, Nagosa is jumping at the chance to take over as Absorption Minister, a post currently held by Sofa Landver of Yisrael Beytenu.   

“I leave this consideration to Prime Minister Netanyahu,” MK Nagosa clarified. “However, personally, I want this job. I am interested in an active position that will allow to advance the interests of the [Ethiopian] community and of all immigrants in Israel.”

“I have not yet placed a demand or request on the position to the Prime Minister,” Nagosa continued, “but I definitely have the qualifications to serve as this important role.”

“Following the protest, I and other community representatives, asked the government to address the problems, demands, and claims raised by the protestors,” the new MK asserted, explaining the presence he has within the Ethiopian community. 

“If the Prime Minister thinks it is worthwhile to give me this portfolio and make these requests a reality – the Prime Minister could make history appointing the first Ethiopian to the position.”