Netanyahu appoints new Israeli ambassador to US
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed a new Israeli ambassador to the U.S. this week.
Netanyahu tapped U.S.-born Yechiel Leiter to succeed Michael Herzog as its next ambassador in Washington. The move follows President-elect Trump's decisive victory in the U.S. presidential election earlier this week.
"Yechiel Leiter is a highly capable diplomat, an eloquent speaker and possesses a deep understanding of American culture and politics,” Netanyahu said in his announcement. “I am convinced that Yechiel will represent the State of Israel in the best way possible. I wish him success in his position."
Herzog, who assumed office in November 2021, was asked to extend his tenure until after Trump is inaugurated.
Leiter — who was born in Scranton, Pa., and moved to Israel when he was 18 — has held a bevy of government positions, including serving as chief of staff to Israel's Ministry of Finance and the deputy director general in the Ministry of Education. The former policy analyst also ran for a seat in the Knesset, Israel's Legislature, as a member of the Likud Party.
He got his Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Haifa. Leiter's son, Maj. Moshe Yedidya Leiter, was killed last year during the Israel-Hamas war.
The latest appointment also comes after Netanyahu ousted his former defense chief Yoav Gallant over what he described as trust issues and "gaps" between them in the management of the conflict in the Middle East. The two have clashed publicly over the course of the more than yearlong war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Netanyahu named former foreign minister Israel Katz to the open defense post.