Israel asks Washington to accept Erdan as ambassador
Netanyahu did not ask Erdan to choose between posting to US or UN, as reported.
By LAHAV HARKOVGilad Erdan arrives to the weekly cabinet meeting, at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, on June 2, 2019.(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
Israel submitted a request to the US State Department to accept Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan as ambassador to the US as well, The Jerusalem Post learned on Friday.Earlier this week, several Israeli media outlets reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to have Erdan choose only one posting, rather than adhere to the original agreement that he fill both.However, the Israeli Embassy to the US already submitted a demande d’ agréation to the State Department, meaning a letter asking that Erdan be accepted as ambassador.Erdan has already spent two days in Washington to meet with Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer, and is preparing for both jobs.He will be the first diplomat to be Israel’s ambassador to the US and the UN simultaneously since Abba Eban in the 1950s.Netanyahu briefly considered dividing the jobs, but did not actually ask Erdan to do so in the end when they met this week, a diplomatic source said.The Prime Minister’s Office denied the reports that Netanyahu had asked Erdan to choose one job.The source also posited that reports that Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz or Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen were asked to be ambassador to the US are false.
