(Israel Hayom/JNS) Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon has announced that he is resigning his post and will return to Israel to vie for a slot on the Likud list in the party primary ahead of the Knesset general election on April 9.

Before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed him to succeed Ron Prosor as Israeli ambassador to the U.N. in August 2015, Danon served as science and technology minister and had been a Likud MK since 2009. He has also served as deputy defense minister but was dismissed for voicing harsh criticism of the government at the start of Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014.

Danon’s term as U.N. ambassador was slated to end in February 2019.