Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer resigns

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By Howard Goller

(Reuters) -Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who played a leading role in negotiations during the Gaza war and was a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, resigned on Tuesday.

His departure follows weeks of speculation in Israeli media and marks the end of a tenure that began in late 2022, when he was tapped for the post after years as Israel’s ambassador to Washington.

“I am writing to inform you of my decision to end my position as minister for strategic affairs,” Dermer wrote in a two-page letter to Netanyahu released to the media.

There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the prime minister’s office.

The U.S.-born Dermer wrote that when he became minister of strategic affairs in December 2022, he promised his family he would serve for no more than two years and twice he extended it with their blessing.

He wrote the first time was to work with Netanyahu to remove the existential threat of Iran’s military nuclear capability in June and the second was to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza in October and the return of Israel’s hostages held in Gaza.

“What I am to expect in the future I don’t know but one thing I know for sure: In all that I will do, I will continue to do my part to secure the future of the Jewish people,” he wrote.

Dermer was one of Netanyahu’s most trusted advisers, negotiating the October ceasefire with both the Trump administration and Arab countries.

Dermer was ambassador to Washington from 2013-2021. His service there overlapped with Republican President Donald Trump’s first term from 2017-2021.

Many Democrats regarded Dermer as having gotten too close to the Republicans during his Washington tenure, undermining the bipartisan relationships nurtured by previous Israeli envoys in the U.S. capital.

(Reporting by Howard Goller, Matt Spetalnick, Jaidaa Taha and Muhammad Al Gebaly; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)