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Gilad Erdan

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Template:Infobox member of the Knesset

Erdan surveying the readiness of emergency services for stormy weather, with Prime-Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Police Comissioner Moti Cohen and Fire & Rescue Comissioner Dedi Simhi.
Erdan surveying the readiness of emergency services for stormy weather, with Prime-Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Police Comissioner Moti Cohen and Fire & Rescue Comissioner Dedi Simhi.

Gilad Menashe Erdan (Template:Lang-he-n, Template:IPA-he; born 30 September 1970) is an Israeli politician who serves as a member of the Knesset for Likud and currently serves as the Regional Cooperation Minister of Israel.[1] He formerly held the posts of Minister of Public Security, Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy, Minister of Environmental Protection, Minister of Communications, Home Front Defense Minister and Minister of Interior.

Background and personal life

Gilad Menashe Erdan was born in Ashkelon. He is of Romanian Jewish and Hungarian Jewish descent. He attained the rank of Captain during his military service in the Adjutant Corps of the IDF. After his military service, he studied Law at Bar-Ilan University, gaining an LL.B, and started working as an attorney. Later on, he gained a Master's Degree in Political Science from Tel-Aviv University (cum laude). Erdan lives in Kiryat Ono and is married with four children.

Political career

Erdan began his political activity in opposition to the Oslo Accords, during the early 1990's. In these circumstances he met with then Likud Chairman, MK Ariel Sharon, and soon started working as Sharon's political advisor. When Likud won the elections in 1996, Erdan was appointed as an Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and was director of the Department for Public Inquiries to the Prime Minister's office between 1996 and 1998.

Erdan was first elected to the Knesset in the 2003 elections. He retained his seat in the 2006 elections despite Likud's collapse from 40 to 12 seats, after winning fourth place on the list in the party's primaries. In the party primaries held on 8 December 2008, he won third place on the list,[2] and was subsequently re-elected in 2009.

In the Knesset, Erdan has supported boosting ties between Israel and Evangelical Christians,[3] as well as presenting bills to enforce no-smoking laws,[4] permanently revoking the driving licenses of serial traffic offenders,[5] and allowing the courts to revoke citizenship for "disloyalty to the state".[6] Prior to submitting the latter bill, Erdan was involved in a spat with Israeli Arab MK Azmi Bishara. During a meeting of the Knesset Law and Constitution Committee to discuss a similar proposal by NRP MK Zevulun Orlev, Erdan interrupted a Bishara speech by shouting "Why don't you just go back to Syria?" in reference to Bishara's trip there the previous summer. Bishara responded by saying "Why don't you just go fuck yourself?" creating an uproar in the committee.[7]

In the 32nd Government

After the 2009 elections to the Knesset, Erdan was appointed Minister of Environmental Protection, and the Minister in charge of coordinating between the Government and the Knesset in the Netanyahu cabinet In the 32nd Government.[8] Upon the government taking office, he expressed support for Avigdor Lieberman's speech opposing the Annapolis Conference and international pressure. He commented that "Israel does not take orders from Obama" and that "citizens of Israel have decided that they will not become the fifty first US state".[9][10]

Erdan visiting a police control center during the 2019 Pride Parade in Jerusalem, with Police Comissioner Moti Cohen and commander of the Jerusalem district, Doron Yadid.
Erdan visiting a police control center during the 2019 Pride Parade in Jerusalem, with Police Comissioner Moti Cohen and commander of the Jerusalem district, Doron Yadid.

In the 33rd Government

Following the 2013 elections to the Knesset, Erdan was appointed the Minister of Communications and Minister of Home Front Defense in the 33rd Government. He was also appointed as a member of the Security Cabinet. In 22 April 2014, after several ongoing disputes with the Defense Minister, Moshe (Bogi) Yaalon, on matters of authority, Erdan announced his resignation as the Minister of Home Front Defense, and called the Prime-Minister to dissolve the Ministry entirely.[11] The ministry was shut down subsequently.

In November 2014 Erdan was appointed Minister of Interior following Gideon Sa'ar's resignation.

In the 34th Government

On 24 May 2015, Prime Minister Netanyahu appointed Erdan as Minister of Public Security, Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy. Erdan was again appointed as a member of the Security Cabinet. Erdan's appointment came eleven days after he initially refused to join Netanyahu's new government as he deemed the Prime Minister's initial ministerial offers as insufficient.[12] Two ministers, Yariv Levin and Ze'ev Elkin, surrendered their portfolios, and Minister without Portfolio Benny Begin resigned from the government in order to accommodate Erdan's appointment.[13]

In his function as Minister of Public Security Erdan and his colleague, Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked, proposed the so-called Facebook Law that will enable Israeli courts to issue decrees against social media companies like Facebook, Google or Twitter to remove public content deemed to be a threat to national security, public security, or a violation of the law. The law has been criticized for bypassing current legislation in which a court first must decide whether specific content matches the accusations.[14][15]

On 11 May 2020, following the 2020 elections to the Knesset, Prime-Minister Netanyahu announced that Erdan would become Israel’s next Ambassador to the UN and also become Israel's Ambassador to the United States after the 2020 presidential election.[16] It was noted that the last person to hold those two positions concurrently, was Israel's mythological diplomat Abba Eban, in the 50's.[17]

On 17 May 2020, Erdan was sworn in as Regional Cooperation Minister of Israel[1] in the 35th Government, until his official appointment as an Ambassador.

Public activities

Outside the Knesset, Erdan was chairman of Al Sam, a non-governmental non-profit organization dealing with drug issues (he also served on the Knesset's Committee on Drug Abuse), and also established the Lobby for Soldiers Missing in Action. Erdan was also a member of the Israel Broadcasting Authority's General Assembly.

References

  1. ^ a b https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/.premium-israel-s-biggest-government-set-to-be-sworn-in-this-is-what-it-would-look-like-1.8845810
  2. ^ "Likud primary results for February 10th national elections". Haaretz. 9 December 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  3. ^ MK Erdan: Let's boost Evangelical ties[permanent dead link‍] The Jerusalem Post, 10 May 2007
  4. ^ Knesset panel to discuss 'red cards' for smokers The Jerusalem Post, 26 February 2007
  5. ^ MK proposes permanently revoking licenses of serial traffic offenders Haaretz, 9 October 2006
  6. ^ 'Disloyalty' bill passes first hurdle The Jerusalem Post, 10 January 2007
  7. ^ Bishara flings obscenities at Erdan[permanent dead link‍] The Jerusalem Post, 6 December 2006
  8. ^ Netanyahu sworn in as Israel's prime minister Haaretz, 1 April 2009.
  9. ^ 'Israel does not take orders from Obama'. The Hindu. Published 7 April 2009.
  10. ^ 'Erdan: We're Not the 51st State'. Israel National News. Published 6 April 2009.
  11. ^ "Erdan quits home front defense, urges Netanyahu to dissolve ministry". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  12. ^ Beck, Jonathan (15 May 2015). "Erdan stayed out of gov't because he wasn't offered tools for 'real change'". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  13. ^ Hofmann, Gil (25 May 2015). "Israel's answer to the BDS movement - Gilad Erdan". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  14. ^ Goichman, Rafaela (27 December 2016). "Will Israeli Internet Censorship Law Prevent the Next Terror Attack?". Haaretz. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  15. ^ Lis, Jonathan (30 December 2016). "Minister back bill that would allow court to censor Internet". Haaretz. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  16. ^ Ravid, Barak (11 May 2020). "New Israeli ambassador to serve dual role at UN and in Washington". Axios. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  17. ^ Halbfinger, David M. (11 May 2020). "Abba Eban Was the Last to Hold These Two Israeli Posts at Once. Next: Gilad Erdan". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
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