The strategic affairs minister resigned after many years in which he helped reshape the Middle East, chalking up some major diplomatic achievements.
t midday, by the snack machine in the basement of the United States Senate office building, I suddenly spotted none other than Ron Dermer. The year was 2015. Dermer was then Israel’s ambassador to the United States in Washington. Snacks?! Was that really what the most senior Israeli envoy in the United States was missing?
A few weeks earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had delivered his historic address to Congress against the nuclear deal between then-President Barack Obama and Iran. Dermer, the one who stitched that speech together and pushed Netanyahu to give it, looked exhausted.
“We haven’t had a bite since morning,” said the aide by his side. So yes, they were hunting for a kosher snack so that the ambassador could get a little energy before the next meeting.