The Jewish Home | JANUARY 28, 2021
Viva, decided to exit the coalition government led by Conte. The rupture came after a dispute over EU pandemic recovery funds and how they are disbursed, which plunged the nation into instability. Conte, who has no political affiliation, told his ministers that he is resigning. He then handed in his official resignation to President Sergio Mattarella. The president has reportedly asked Conte to remain in a caretaker role while consultations take place over the formation of a new government. However, the resignation is widely seen as an attempt to avoid a parliamentary defeat at a Senate vote later this week. Conte narrowly survived a vote of confidence last week, but his government has been stripped of a working majority with the departure of Italia Viva – making it difficult to pass any major laws for the remainder of his mandate. “Having failed in his desperate efforts to broaden his majority, Conte and his government were set to be defeated in a new Senate vote that is currently scheduled for 27 January,” Wolfango Piccoli, co-president of the consultancy firm Teneo, said. He said Conte’s resignation was an attempt “to ensure his own political survival.” Mattarella now has to decide whether to give Conte the chance to negotiate with lawmakers again, looking for a majority that will allow him to govern. If Italian lawmakers do not reach an agreement over a new coalition government, with or without Conte as prime minister, then voters will have to head to the polls sooner rather than later. Italy, the first EU country to be hit hard by the pandemic, has recorded more than 2 million Covid infections and over 85,000 deaths.
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Ambassador and Envoy Erdan Gilad Erdan began his term as Israel’s Ambassador to the United States last week, replacing Ron Dermer as Jerusalem’s envoy to its most important ally.
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Already Israel’s envoy to the United Nations, Erdan is now the first
person to hold both posts since Abba Eban in the 1950s. In his new role, Erdan will be tasked with building a relationship with the Biden administration and the Democratic Party, who now control the White House, Congress, and the Senate. Making Erdan’s job particularly challenging is the upsurge of anti-Israel sentiment in the Democratic Party, including the support for the BDS movement espoused by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. The former Pub-
lic Security Minister will also play a key role in broadcasting Israel’s concerns to the Biden administration regarding a possible U.S. return to the Iran deal. Erdan recently spent several weeks in Washington learning the ins and outs of the position, while meeting with senior power brokers and forming relationships with key lawmakers. His predecessor, Dermer, had held the position since 2013 and was widely viewed as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanya-
