Forever the magician pulling unexpected rabbits out of his hat, on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added a Minister who is not an MK to his government: his former strategic and campaign consultant Ron Dermer will serve as his Minister of Strategic Affairs.
Dermer was born in Miami Beach, Florida. His mother, Yaffe, was born in Mandatory Palestine, to parents who fled from Poland and Germany before World War II. Her family immigrated to the US shortly after the establishment of the State of Israel. His father, Jay Dermer, an attorney, was born in New York and in 1967 was elected as the Democratic Mayor of Miami Beach. He served two terms. Later, Ron’s brother, David Dermer, served three terms as mayor, also as a Democrat.
The Ministry of Strategic Affairs’ mission is to act against the delegitimization and boycotts of Israel. It was established in 2006 and headed by Avigdor Lieberman. In 2008, the ministry was dissolved, to be re-established in 2009 under Moshe Ya’alon. The Lapid-Bennett government dismantled it yet again. Now it has been resurrected under Dermer.
The Ministry of Strategic Affairs established three global networks: GC4I, the global network of pro-Israel leaders; DigiTell, a professional network of bloggers and social media influencers; and LNI, a network of pro-Israel lawyers – which work against delegitimizing groups that promote anti-Israel boycotts.
In 2013, Dermer replaced Michael Oren as Israel’s Ambassador to the United States. His tenure in DC saw several significant diplomatic achievements for Israel: the Obama administration’s $38 billion military aid deal, and the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, coupled with relocating the US embassy to the holy city.
However, in March 2015, Dermer became persona non grata for DC Democrats over his role in orchestrating Netanyahu’s defiant address to both houses of Congress against the Obama-Biden administration’s Iran nuclear deal. It is not likely that today’s White House team will forget that episode.
In 2019, Walla reported that Netanyahu considers only two fitting candidates to replace him when the time comes: former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and Ron Dermer. Neither man is currently a member of the Knesset.
