Tzipura "Tzipi" Hotovely (Hebrew: צפורה "ציפי" חוטובלי‎, born 2 December 1978) is an Israeli diplomat and former politician who serves as the current Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom.

[11] She was re-elected in the 2013 elections, after winning fifteenth place on the joint Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu list, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Transportation and Road Safety in the new government.

[17] After the change of government in June 2021 and the Likud's transition to the opposition, newspaper Haaretz reported that Foreign Minister of Israel Yair Lapid wanted to appoint Yael German in her place, but this did not materialize.

[20][21] The protests were condemned by British government ministers, including Nadhim Zahawi and James Cleverly, while Home Secretary Priti Patel said she would support a police investigation into the matter.

[22] In response, LSE also released a statement saying that Hotovely was able to finish her talk mostly unhindered on schedule but added "intimidation or threats of violence are completely unacceptable.

[26] She later reiterated her position in a speech to Israeli diplomats on 22 May 2015, rejecting criticism from the international community regarding the West Bank settlement policies and saying that Israel has tried too hard to appease the world, and must stand up for itself.

She has also stated that she will make every effort to achieve global recognition for West Bank settlements, as well as asserting that Israel owes no apologies for its policies in the Holy Land towards the Palestinians.

She added: "I think it's the center of Israeli sovereignty, the capital of Israel, the holiest place for the Jewish people", despite the government's insistence that it has no intention of changing the status quo at the site.

[31] In a 22 November 2017 interview with Israel's i24news, Hotovely said that most American Jews "don't understand the complexities of the region", [the Middle East], because they "never send their children to fight for their country.

[35][36][37] Several senior members of the British Jewish community criticized her appointment as Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom, mainly because of her "ultra-right-wing" opinions, including Melanie Phillips,[38] Jenni Frazer,[39] Laura Janner-Klausner, and Lord Beecham, who stated: "The appointment of an ultra-right-wing ambassador, while typical of the present government of Israel, will do nothing to win friends in the UK – or indeed any other reasonable country.

She had earlier sponsored in the Knesset groups deemed to be 'racist' who are opposed to mixed marriages; favours a one-state solution that withholds citizenship from West Bank Palestinians.

[42] In an interview with Sky News on 13 December 2023 in her capacity as Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hotovely rejected the two-state solution and expressed her opposition to the establishment of any Palestinian state.

"[46] Baroness Sayeeda Warsi called her remarks "appalling", saying "She has a long and well documented history of denying the right of Palestine to exist and is a clear example of why this Israeli government is not a partner for peace".