Former Likud Minister Gilad Erdan departed Israel with his family early Tuesday morning to begin his new position as Israel’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, replacing former Ambassador Danny Danon.

“The last moments of excitement before take-off to the United States,” Erdan wrote on Twitter.

“I’ll do everything I can to protect Israel – our one and only state – to represent it faithfully and to fulfill my national mission.”

Erdan, who was most recently Israel’s Regional Cooperation Minister, is Israel’s 18th Ambassador to the United Nations and will also be Israel’s Ambassador to the United States after the 2020 presidential election.

Some have expressed criticism of the fact that Erdan was appointed to both roles, saying that both positions require full-time hours and cannot be accomplished by one person. The last Israeli to hold both positions simultaneously was Abba Eban in the 1950s.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)