Ron Dermer to leave role as minister soon, PM said to announce at cabinet meeting

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer “will soon finish his role” as a minister in the government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced during Tuesday night’s cabinet meeting, Hebrew media reported.

According to reports, Netanyahu said Dermer will remain involved in several unspecified matters.

The US-born Dermer is one of Netanyahu’s closest confidantes and has been closely involved in decision-making throughout the ongoing war.

Since February, Dermer has led the negotiating team for a hostage release-ceasefire deal with Hamas, replacing Mossad chief David Barnea and then-Shin Bet head Ronen Bar after the premier reportedly sought to change tack.

No hostages have been released through negotiations under Dermer, and hostage families have accused the minister of offering no plan forward.

Dermer has also been negotiating a security arrangement with Syria, after the 1974 disengagement deal inked at the end of the Yom Kippur war collapsed when the Assad regime was overthrown in December.

He was Israel’s ambassador to the US from 2013 to 2021 and was a key negotiator for the Abraham Accords, which saw the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalize relations with Israel in 2020.

In August, the Israel Hayom daily reported Dermer has been discussing his retirement since Israel’s 12-day war in June that targeted Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missiles program.

The top aide to Netanyahu has not settled on an exact date to leave his position, but will do so before the elections, which are scheduled for October 2026, but are likely to be held earlier, the report said.