At a time when Israel’s wars are fought not only on battlefields but also in the White House, at the UN, and across American television screens, Yechiel Leiter, Ron Dermer, and Danny Danon occupy particularly important positions.
They do so in different ways. Leiter is Israel’s official representative in Washington, and Danon is its voice at the UN. Dermer, though no longer holding an official position, remains one of Netanyahu’s closest confidants and one of the Israelis best connected to the Trump administration.
Yechiel Leiter
Leiter took up his post as ambassador to the US in January 2025, just days after Donald Trump returned to the White House. American-born, he came to the job with a deep knowledge of the country and its culture, along with years of experience in Israeli public life – valuable assets for an Israeli ambassador in Washington.
He also arrived in Washington with a powerful personal story: his son, Maj. Moshe Yedidya Leiter, was killed fighting in Gaza in November 2023. When Leiter speaks about Israel’s war, its soldiers, and the price the country has paid, he does so not only as an envoy but as a bereaved father, giving his words a particular poignancy.
His influence derives first and foremost from his position. The relationship with Washington remains Israel’s most important, and the ambassador is the man tasked with nurturing it, not only with the president and his advisers, but with Congress, the media, American Jewry, and the broader American public.
Having a friendly administration makes that task easier, but not easy. Even under Trump, disagreements emerge, interests diverge, and patience wears thin. Leiter’s job is to ensure that when this happens, Israel’s arguments are understood and its voice reaches the people making the decisions.
Ron Dermer
If Leiter’s influence comes through formal office, Dermer’s is rooted in experience and trust – the trust placed in him by Netanyahu and Trump, with whom he worked closely during the president’s first term, when Dermer was Israel’s ambassador to the US.
Dermer, who set up a consulting office in Jerusalem this summer, has no official title today, but he doesn’t need one. He remains a close confidant to the prime minister, who has called on him to lead negotiations with Lebanon and troubleshoot with the White House when needed.
For more than two decades, Dermer has been Netanyahu’s most trusted adviser on the US. As strategic affairs minister, he handled some of Israel’s most sensitive diplomatic assignments, from the hostage negotiations to discussions over Iran and regional normalization. His involvement continues now, though behind the curtain.
Dermer’s departure from government last November may have deprived him of a formal platform, but it did not erase the relationships accumulated over decades or the complete trust Netanyahu has in him. That trust has given him unparalleled access.
In diplomacy, as in politics, access is influence, and few Israelis have enjoyed more meaningful access in Washington than Dermer.
Danny Danon
Danon’s platform, by contrast, is anything but discreet. As Israel’s ambassador to the UN, he operates in perhaps the world’s most visible and most hostile diplomatic arena.
Danon returned to the UN in 2024, having already served there from 2015 to 2020. That experience matters. He knows the institution, understands its procedures, and is under no illusions about the entrenched hostility Israel faces there.
The UN is an arena where automatic majorities routinely condemn Israel; where countries with appalling human rights records sit in judgment of it alongside some Western democracies that apply standards to Israel they would never apply elsewhere; and where diplomatic language is often used to disguise blatant political bias.
Danon’s role is not necessarily to win votes – that is usually impossible – but to challenge the narrative, expose the hypocrisy, and ensure that Israel’s position is heard.
He does this with the instincts of a politician as much as those of a diplomat.
A former Likud MK and minister, and a man many believe is waiting for the post-Netanyahu era to vie for the leadership of the Likud, Danon understands that his audience extends far beyond the ambassadors sitting in the UN plenum or Security Council. His speeches, press conferences, and confrontations are aimed as much at the Israeli public, American lawmakers, and Jews worldwide as at his diplomatic counterparts.
That ability to turn the UN podium into a public-diplomacy platform is the source of his influence.
Leiter, Dermer, and Danon speak from different positions and to somewhat different audiences. But all three play critical roles in presenting Israel’s case to the US administration, the American public, and the wider world, trying to ensure that – amid all the noise, lies, and misinformation – Israel’s voice is heard.