Israeli minister, losing seat in Knesset, considered career in reality TV

Failing to win a seat in Parliament, Israeli Minister Ayoob Kara tried out for reality TV.

By Tofi Stoler, CTECH

Israeli Minister of Communications Ayoob Kara was considering a career shift to reality TV and has met with the producers of popular show Survivor VIP to discuss his possible participation as a contestant, Israeli news site Ynet reported Sunday.

As part of his ministerial responsibilities, Kara oversees and regulates the activity of Reshet 13, the network responsible for the production.

According to the report, the meeting between Kara and the producers took place after Israel’s general election in April, in which Kara, who is slotted as number 39 on the ruling Likud party’s list, failed to win a seat in parliament.

Since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unable to secure a majority coalition and the Israeli parliament had dispersed in May, pending a new election in September, Kara will remain in office as part of the interim government. According to the report, Kara withdrew his candidacy for the show after the new election was announced, in order to focus on his political career.

A Ministry of Communications spokeswomen declined to comment.

In response to Calcalist’s request for comment, a Reshet 13 spokeswoman said the show is currently in the process of casting and the network cannot comment on the identity of the contestants at this point.