The surprising and exceptional decision to name Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan to be both Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations and Israel’s ambassador in Washington was made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because of political constraints.
The prime minister found himself in a tough spot in distributing ministries for senior members of his Likud party because of the generous coalition agreement with Blue and White. According to the national-unity deal, each party gets an equal number of ministerial portfolios. This meant Netanyahu had to be creative in finding suitable solutions for those who had been serving as ministers. On May 11 he met with Erdan, a popular Likud minister, and presented him with this enticing offer: to be his right hand in the United States, in the two most senior positions, during a period when Netanyahu intends to promote the imposition of Israeli sovereignty on West Bank lands with the Trump administration.
Erdan, 50, known for his tendency to deliberate, came to a quick decision this time. In the past he was offered the job of ambassador to the United Nations several times, but he always refused. This time he said yes to Netanyahu after he realized that the prime minister did not intend to leave him in the Public Security Ministry. In this situation, the offer he was made, given the circumstances, was not a bad deal: serving in roles that will give him diplomatic and foreign affairs experience for his future career. Erdan hasn’t given up on his ambition to lead the Likud and serve as prime minister in the future.
According to the agreement they reached, Erdan will continue to serve as security minister until the government authorizes his appointment as ambassador to the United Nations, and only then would he resign from the Knesset and start his term in the United Nations as Danny Danon’s replacement. In the second stage, following the presidential election in the United States in November, he would also step into Ron Dermer’s shoes as ambassador to Washington and serve in the two ambassadorial roles simultaneously. When Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz starts his term as prime minister as part of the rotation agreement with Netanyahu, Gantz could replace Erdan as ambassador to the US, with Erdan remaining in the UN post.
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