Gilad Erdan

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Israeli politician and former minister of strategic affairs who set up the government's covert anti-BDS programme; later ambassador to the UN and the US, and global president of Magen David Adom

Gilad Erdan

Image Gilad Erdan.jpg
Erdan as Israel's ambassador to the UN, August 2021 (US Department of Homeland Security, public domain)
Occupation Politician; diplomat
Minister of Public Security and Minister of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy, 25 May 2015 – 17 May 2020
Minister of Regional Cooperation, 17 May 2020 – July 2020
Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 12 August 2020 – August 2024
Ambassador to the United States, 21 January 2021 – 15 November 2021
Known for Minister of Strategic Affairs; ambassador to the United Nations

Gilad Erdan is an Israeli politician and former diplomat. He was Minister of Communications in the government formed on 18 March 2013,[1] and from 25 May 2015 to 17 May 2020 was both Minister of Public Security and Minister of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy.[2][3] The strategic affairs ministry ran the government's work against the BDS movement.[4] When the 35th government was sworn in on 17 May 2020 he became Minister of Regional Cooperation,[3] a post he left in July 2020 when he was named ambassador to the UN.[5] He served on Benjamin Netanyahu's Security Cabinet for some seven years.[6]

The cabinet approved his appointment as ambassador to the UN, and later to the United States, on 5 July 2020.[7] He left Israel for New York on 11 August 2020[5] and presented his credentials as Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations on 12 August 2020.[8][9] From 21 January 2021 he was also ambassador to the United States, replacing Ron Dermer.[10] He held both posts until his successor in Washington, Michael Herzog, took office on 15 November 2021, and then continued at the UN.[11] His UN tenure ended in August 2024. A farewell ceremony was held in Manhattan on 5 August 2024,[12] and his successor, Danny Danon, presented his credentials on 19 August 2024.[13][14] JNS describes him as Israel's "former envoy to the United Nations and the United States".[6] In September 2024, as the outgoing UN ambassador, he was appointed global president of Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medical service.[14][6] In June 2026 he launched a report, "From U.N. Bureaucracy to American Global Leadership", as an adviser to the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy.[6]


Minister of Strategic Affairs

As Minister of Strategic Affairs, in June 2018 he opened his ministry's GC4I conference of pro-Israel groups against the BDS movement.[4]

Leaked emails and documents

The following is according to leaked emails attributed to Benny Gantz, released in 2025 by the hacking group Handala and published by Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets). DDoSecrets says Handala is "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and security researchers have linked it to Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security.[15] The authenticity of the emails has not been independently verified.[16] On 16 January 2016 Gantz wrote that "Minister Gilad Erdan asked for a meeting concerning the anti-BDS activity we want to promote through a company due to be set up under the name '12 Tribes'" (translated from Hebrew).[17] Minutes of a meeting on 14 June 2016 with the Institute for National Security Studies record that Erdan had offered Gantz the chairmanship of the ministry's planned public-benefit company (later Kela Shlomo and Concert - Together for Israel). He stressed "the need for a platform of influence and mutual dependence between the Ministry and the proposed company", so that after receiving government (49%) and donor (51%) funding it would not "turn against the government". According to the minutes, he said that centre-left figures were needed "to work with the important target audiences, contrary to his political base", and that he was aiming for "4–6 major, large donors" (translated from Hebrew).[18] Jack Poulson first reported the cache's account of the 12 Tribes initiative.[19]

Leaked Israeli Ministry of Justice documents, published by Distributed Denial of Secrets in 2024 and not independently verified, show the ministry taking advice from US law firms in 2018–2021 on whether its funding of US groups would trigger the Foreign Agents Registration Act.[20][21] See Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy.

External resources

Notes

  1. ↑ Government 33, knesset.gov.il, accessed 18 March 2013.
  2. ↑ Arutz Sheva staff, It's Official: Gilad Erdan Sworn into Government Israel National News, 25 May 2015, accessed 21 October 2026.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jacob Magid, After 508-day crisis, Israel's new government finally sworn in by Knesset The Times of Israel, 17 May 2020, accessed 21 October 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mordechai Sones, 'Hate network' against Israel exposed Israel National News, 19 June 2018.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Gilad Erdan departs for US to begin service as ambassador Israel National News, 11 August 2020, accessed 21 October 2026.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Gilad Erdan: Israel 'refuses to surrender' to enemies JNS, 23 June 2026, accessed 21 October 2026. Israel-side.
  7. ↑ Lahav Harkov, Cabinet approves Gilad Erdan as UN and US ambassador The Jerusalem Post, 5 July 2020, accessed 21 October 2026.
  8. ↑ United Nations, New Permanent Representative of Israel Presents Credentials press release BIO/5315, 12 August 2020, accessed 21 October 2026. Official (primary).
  9. ↑ United Nations Protocol and Liaison Service, Presentation of credentials in 2020 (PDF), accessed 21 October 2026. Official (primary).
  10. ↑ Israel's UN envoy steps into role of US ambassador JNS (from Israel Hayom), 21 January 2021, accessed 21 October 2026. Israel-side.
  11. ↑ Arutz Sheva staff, New Israeli Ambassador to the United States of America takes office Israel National News, 15 November 2021, accessed 21 October 2026.
  12. ↑ David Isaac, Israel's UN envoy ends tenure serving 'most moral country in the world' JNS, 7 August 2024, accessed 21 October 2026. Israel-side.
  13. ↑ United Nations, New Permanent Representative of Israel Presents Credentials press release BIO/5548, 19 August 2024, accessed 21 October 2026. Official (primary).
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 American Friends of Magen David Adom, Gilad Erdan takes helm as global president of MDA, enhancing emergency response afmda.org, 4 September 2024, accessed 21 October 2026. MDA-side.
  15. ↑ Check Point Research, "Handala Hack" – Unveiling Group's Modus Operandi Check Point Research, 12 March 2026, accessed 21 October 2026. Security research.
  16. ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Benny Gantz emails ddosecrets.org, 27 August 2025, accessed 21 October 2026. DDoSecrets says the emails "were released by Handala, a hacking group that is believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and applies its "Cyberwar" disclaimer.
  17. ↑ Benny Gantz emails (released by Handala, published by Distributed Denial of Secrets), email from Benny Gantz, 16 January 2016 (Hebrew), archive path benny@bgprime.co.il/Sent/1 (75).html, dataset page ddosecrets.org, accessed 21 October 2026. Leaked email; authenticity not independently verified.
  18. ↑ Benny Gantz emails (released by Handala, published by Distributed Denial of Secrets), email from Assaf Orion (INSS), "BDS and delegitimisation: main points of meeting with Minister Gilad Erdan – 14 June", 15 June 2016, with attached INSS presentation of 13 June 2016 (Hebrew), archive path beny/Inbox!5/0000003261, dataset page ddosecrets.org, accessed 21 October 2026. Leaked email; authenticity not independently verified.
  19. ↑ Jack Poulson, Leak indicates billionaire funders of Israeli cyber campaign targeting anti-apartheid activists All-Source Intelligence (Substack), 17 September 2025, updated 27 September 2025.
  20. ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Israel Ministry of Justice ddosecrets.org, 25 July 2024, accessed 21 October 2026. DDoSecrets lists the dataset in its "Cyberwar" category, warning of "an increased chance of malware, ulterior motives and altered or implanted data".
  21. ↑ Lee Fang and Jack Poulson, Israel feared legal trouble over US advocacy efforts, leaked files suggest The Guardian, 17 August 2024.
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