Gilad Erdan

Gilad Erdan entered diplomacy after a career in Likud politics and several Israeli ministries. A lawyer from Ashkelon, he joined the Knesset in 2003 and became environment minister in 2009. As communications minister, he worked on competition and broadcasting reform. He later held the public security and strategic affairs portfolios, overseeing policing policy and the government's campaign against boycotts of Israel. ¹

He held the UN ambassadorship alongside the Washington post during 2021, traveling repeatedly between New York and Washington. His ten months as ambassador to the United States covered the change from Trump to Biden and the replacement of Netanyahu's government by the Bennett–Lapid coalition. In June, Erdan announced that the new Israeli government should choose its own Washington representative; he continued at the UN after handing over to Michael Herzog. ^{2, 3}

Erdan made Israel's admission to the American Visa Waiver Program an embassy priority. In his departure interview, he described raising the matter with members of Congress and administration officials, drawing on contacts with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that began during his ministerial service. The application remained unfinished when he left. His discussions with Washington also addressed Iran's nuclear program and the Biden administration's proposal to reopen a consulate serving Palestinians in Jerusalem. ³