Ron Dermer Named to Strategic Affairs Post as Netanyahu Government Takes Office

Israel’s Former Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer was sworn in as Strategic Affairs Minister in the new Israeli government on Thursday. The role has no defined powers or responsibilities, but Dermer is expected to take a strong hand in foreign policy, including US-Israel relations, and will sit in Israel’s security cabinet, which makes defense and foreign policy decisions.

Dermer, who served as Ambassador to the US from 2013 to 2021, had been rumored to be considered for foreign minister, a job that went to Likud MK Eli Cohen.

During his tenure in the US, Dermer was noted for having a difficult relationship with the Obama administration before enjoying warmer ties with former President Trump. The New Yorker reported in 2018 that tensions between Dermer and then-National Security Advisor Susan Rice were so high that the two would not meet alone. Dermer and Netanyahu also accused the Obama administration of orchestrating a 2016 anti-settlement resolution at the UN Security Council, a claim the Obama administration denied.

While Dermer and the Trump administration clashed over proposed Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank, the achievement of longstanding goals like moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and normalization agreements with several Arab countries under the Abraham Accords marked a highpoint in recent US-Israel relations.

It is unclear whether Dermer intends to maintain any of the previous assignments of the strategic affairs office, which over the years have included combating the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel and countering the threat from Iran.