WASHINGTON (JTA) — Gilad Erdan, currently Israel’s public security minister, will serve simultaneously as the nation’s ambassador to Washington and the United Nations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Monday.
The announcement comes three days ahead of the formation of a new coalition government between Netanyahu’s Likud party and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party. The new government must approve the Erdan appointments.
Erdan, a Likud member, will replace Ron Dermer in Washington. Dermer, a close Netanyahu adviser, has served since 2013, an unusually long stint for an ambassador, and longs to return home.
At the U.N., Erdan will succeed Danny Danon, who has held the post since 2015, also a long tenure for an ambassador.
Under the new government agreement, Gantz will name his own ambassador to Washington once he assumes the prime ministership in 18 months and Erdan will keep the U.N. post.
“Minister Erdan is a committed public servant with deep connections to the American Jewish community,” said a statement from the leadership of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “His most recent postings provide him with extraordinary credentials for representing Israel in the diplomatic arena at the United Nations, and with Israel’s greatest friend and ally, the United States of America.”
