JERUSALEM – Israel’s justice Minister Ayelet Shaked has said she mighteventually run for the office of prime minister of the Jewish state, afteran Austrian diamond tycoon said he has chosen her as a candidate for theslot.

Joseph Gutnick is an Australian businessman and mining industryentrepreneur. He is also an ordained rabbi and is well known for hisphilanthropy in the Jewish world.

According to Israeli media, In 1996, when the incumbent Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu had almost the election, the last-minute boostform him to win the race came from Gutnick.

The campaign started two days before the May 29 election, when banners wentup at junctions across the country with the slogan “Netanyahu is good forthe Jews.”

It was financed by Australian billionaire Joseph Gutnick, a Chabad rabbiwho made by mining diamonds in Australia’s Northern Territory.

In a recent Interview with a leading English language newspaper, the rabbisaid he has chosen his candidate to succeed Netanyahu whenever he leavesoffice: Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked.

Reacting to his comments, Shaked said: “I am very thankful to Gutnick forthe compliment.”

“Right now, we have a prime minister in Benjamin Netanyahu, and after him,[Bayit Yehudi leader] Naftali Bennett is most fit. But in the distantfuture, everything is open.” – APP/AFP