As Netanyahu and Trump to Meet, Ron Dermer Has to Find ‘The Formula of the Century’

Shalom Yerushalmi

Times of Israel, Feb. 3, 2025

“This is no longer just the outgoing Biden administration, focused overwhelmingly on the hostage deal. It is about the geostrategic vision of the new administration, continuing alongside or in parallel with the hostage deal. Netanyahu needs Dermer — his closest confidant — on the ground.”

Minister Ron Dermer, perhaps the most influential figure in the government these days, is also Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private ambassador to the US. The Americans know this, and so does anyone involved in diplomacy between the US and Israel.

Dermer’s most critical role, beyond the grandiose title of minister of strategic affairs, is to ensure that the interests of the two countries align. This is precisely why Dermer is now stepping into the spotlight: He is the one who will oversee and manage the continuation of the negotiations with Hamas over the second phase of the hostage-ceasefire deal, as was first reported on Channel 12 News over the weekend.

American interests do not always align with Netanyahu’s political needs. In such cases, Dermer sometimes pushes the prime minister and at other times backs down. He was the driving force behind the continuous flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, meeting the Biden administration’s maximum demands. Key right-wing ministers — most notably Bezalel Smotrich and former minister Itamar Ben Gvir — opposed and continue to oppose this aid.

Dermer understood that resisting the Americans on this sensitive issue was not an option. The supply of aid proceeded at the pace and in the quantities the US administration wanted, and an open clash with President Joe Biden was avoided. …SOURCE