Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accustomed to departures of advisers and other close team members. Usually this happens to him suddenly, and in a bad atmosphere.

On June 24, Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, head of the National Security Council, also abruptly joined this long list. Amidror, a key player in the prime minister’s office, served as Netanyahu’s diplomatic arm over a long period.

Amidror is leaving during a very sensitive period — diplomatically and in terms of security — when negotiations with the Palestinians are to be renewed. Thus, among all the resignations in recent years, Amidror’s departure is truly a lost opportunity.

The skullcap-wearing Amidror, planted firmly in right-wing ideology, has become a pragmatist over the last two and a half years in which he served in Netanyahu’s office. Amidror was the one to coordinate diplomatic activity vis-a-vis the US administration, and he created a good, day-to-day relationship with top US officials, headed by his US peer national security adviser Tom Donilon — who just resigned from his post, too. And there is no doubt that Amidror’s job changed something in his approach.