Ron Dermer, Israel’s Pipeline to GOP, Named U.S. Envoy
Ron Dermer
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday named a close U.S.-born political adviser with reported links in the past to the Republican party as Israel’s new ambassador to Washington.
Ron Dermer
Ron Dermer, 42, was widely seen in Israel as having steered Netanyahu toward showing almost overt support for Republican candidate Mitt Romney in his failed 2012 electoral bid to unseat President Barack Obama, with whom Netanyahu had had frosty ties.
Israeli media reported that Dermer, though officially welcomed by the Obama administration, had had ties with the U.S. leader’s Republican rivals.
During the campaign for the November election, Netanyahu had a high-profile meeting with Romney when he visited Israel, in contrast with past Israeli practice of avoiding publicity that may be seen as expressing support for any U.S. candidate.
The Haaretz newspaper wrote on its website that Dermer was seen as a “clear supporter of the Republican party”, whose family has had close ties with the party. State-owned Channel One television said he was seen as someone who supported Romney.
Dermer served as an economics attache in Washington before becoming a top aide to Netanyahu in 2009.
Netanyahu said in a statement announcing Dermer’s position that he was confident the new envoy would “loyally represent Israel in the U.S. capital”.
Once approved by the Israeli cabinet, Dermer would replace the current ambassador, Michael Oren.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
