The new Israeli ambassador to the U.N. and U.S. Gilad Erdan is ready to defend annexation of parts of the West Bank to the world.

“We promised it to our voters,” Erdan said of annexation. “I believe in it with all my heart that we have a biblical and legal right to Judea and Samaria. It cannot be that the citizens of Israel who live there have to live under a military government just because the Palestinians have refused to reach a compromise with us for decades.

“That’s how I view the ‘Deal of the Century.’ As a politician, I say we have to aim to fulfill it.”

If Israel proceeds with annexation, Erdan expressed confidence that he can represent and defend the policy well.

This will include both defending the policy to governments and within U.S. civil society:

The soon-to-be ambassador said his attitude is that the job is “not just in the hallways of the UN and of governments.”

“It should also include civil society organizations, and I will continue the work I did to bring in networks of legal experts, digital-media experts and Jewish organizations,” he said. “This is the infrastructure of the Jewish world that helps and supports Israel. I see myself as a bridge between them and the government of Israel.”

Ariel Gold at Mondoweiss has more on Gilad Erdan

I began paying closer attention to Erdan in 2017 the Israeli Knesset passed a law, initiated by Erdan, enabling the country bar entry on the grounds of support for the nonviolent Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement. Erdan announced at this time his intentions to create a database of such people like me. 

In December 2018, Knesset approved $72 million for Erdan’s anti-BDS, anti-free speech project. In January 2018, Erdan released a blacklist of 20 organizations, including CODEPINK, now officially banned from entering Israel. Expanding his mission to suppress dissent and freedom of speech, in June 2019, he took credit for the unconstitutional anti-BDS laws being enacted in U.S. states. “Our efforts are producing results. 27 US states now have counter-BDS legislation,” he gloated. “We must encourage investigations of terror-linked BDS groups and promote legislation that counters all forms of antisemitism including of course the antisemitic delegitimization of Israel,” he continued, calling for even further Israeli interference into U.S. policy.

A good time to go back and watch The Lobby: