Netanyahu appoints senior Likud member as his right-hand man in US

Although the double appointment was borne out of a political predicament for Netanyahu, this wasn’t an arbitrary decision. According to all signs, in the coming days Netanyahu intends to promote, with all his might, the imposition of Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank. To do so, he needs a trustworthy man and a person identified with right-wing ideology for diplomacy with the White House. Erdan meets those two criteria. 

Erdan and Netanyahu have known each other for nearly three decades, from the days that Erdan served as chairman of Likud youth during Netanyahu’s first term as prime minister in the 1990s. In the past decade Netanyahu appointed Erdan to senior Cabinet posts, among them as minister of interior, communications, environment and home front defense. During the past five years, Erdan has also led the government response on strategic topics such as combating the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. In these roles Erdan has served as a member of the diplomatic-security cabinet and gained much knowledge and experience. 

During his tenure as public security minister, the police investigations of Netanyahu were initiated and concluded with serious indictments. During this time, Netanyahu felt that Erdan did not use his office and authority to moderate what the prime minister saw as a police witch hunt against him. For this reason, they have grown apart, but Erdan has never publicly challenged Netanyahu, and stood by him in the last primary race to lead the Likud in December.   

Over the years Erdan has backed all of Netanyahu’s diplomatic moves, and was the first minister to thank President Donald Trump for the “deal of the century” and for the green light the American ambassador to Israel David Friedman gave to impose sovereignty over the West Bank. Erdogan said then, “The worldview of the Trump administration, as expressed by Ambassador Friedman, is the only one that could bring change and cause the Palestinians to understand that boycotting Israel and the United States and supporting terror and incitement won’t bring them any achievements and that they are the ones with the most to lose from refusing peace.” 

Thus, in this respect Netanyahu can rest easy. Erdan will serve as the prime minister’s executive arm in the United States and, like the outgoing Dermer, Erdan will enjoy a relationship of trust and an open door with the Trump administration. 

As mentioned above, the appointment of one man to serve in these two roles simultaneously is unusual, and the only Israeli who previously served in these two roles at the same time was Abba Eban, who was the first Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, appointed at the creation of the state in 1948, and two years later was appointed as the Israeli ambassador to the United States. Eban is regarded as a mythological ambassador who laid the foundations for Israeli diplomacy, and later served as foreign minister. But this was in the distant past when Israel was a small, young nation with little means. 

Diplomatic observers have noted critically that there are only four nations in the world that have the same ambassador to the United Nations and to Washington: Andorra, San Marino, Djibouti and the Maldives.

Erdan is a respected figure in Israeli politics from both the right and left, and this is the reason that criticism of the double appointment was expressed only without attribution. A senior Blue and White source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “It’s surprising every time how Netanyahu destroys the whole governing order for his benefit and political needs. It’s not reasonable that one person would serve in these two important roles.” 

In media interviews over the past day Erdan has sounded like someone who is coming to the job with a clear agenda and goals. He said that he agreed with Netanyahu on adding diplomats to the delegation to the United Nations, which has suffered a human resources shortage.  In his words, Israel stands “before a historic process of annexing Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]. There could be major problems in the United Nations. There’s a legal process advancing against Israel in the International Court at the Hague [ICC], and Iran isn’t waiting, and is moving toward a nuclear bomb.”

Netanyahu, according to reports, is expected to invite Erdan to one of the meetings with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo when he arrives in Israel on May 13.