The election of Yechiel Leiter comes days after Trump’s election victory and heralds a long-awaited shift in coverage between america and Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu selected Yechiel Leiter as Israel’s new ambassador to america, days after Republican Donald Trump was elected to a second time period within the White Home.
Leiter, an American-born resident of an Israeli settlement within the occupied West Financial institution, has lengthy been an advocate for the growth of unlawful settlements. His election coincides with the Netanyahu authorities’s enthusiastic response to Trump’s return to the White Home.
Trump took a staunchly loyal method to Israel throughout his first time period, notably concerning Israeli settlements, stating that “the Jewish state has by no means had a greater good friend within the White Home.”
In an announcement on Friday, Netanyahu’s workplace famous Leiter’s previous positions within the Israeli authorities, together with as Netanyahu’s chief of workers when the prime minister was finance secretary. He has additionally served as deputy director common of the Ministry of Training and performing president of the Israel Ports Firm.
In an announcement, Netanyahu referred to as Leiter “a extremely succesful diplomat, an eloquent speaker” with a deep understanding of American tradition and politics.
Leiter, who was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, additionally the hometown of US President Joe Biden, has lately been a number one voice calling for extra Israeli troopers preventing in Gaza and Lebanon – and their households – to play a bigger position within the authorities. .
His son, Moshe Leiter, was killed in northern Gaza in November final yr.
‘Essentially the most radical currents’
Chatting with Al Jazeera, Michael Omer-Man, director of Israel-Palestine analysis for Democracy for the Arab World Now, stated Leiter has confirmed to be a savvy political actor “who has been working to spice up American perceptions of the motion.” Israeli settlements and the justice of Israeli domination of your complete land all through his profession.”
Omer-Man added that Leiter “is somebody who’s ideologically aligned with essentially the most radical currents of mental thought and the ideological motion of the Israeli settlements.”
Israeli settlements are unlawful underneath worldwide legislation.
Leiter continues to dwell within the Eli settlement north of Ramallah, in accordance with Israeli media, and is listed because the founding president of a New York-based group, One Israel Fund, which helps settlers within the occupied West Financial institution.
His appointment underscores the Israeli authorities’s expectation of a broader, extra permissive coverage shift from the White Home when Trump takes workplace in January.
Throughout his first time period, Trump acknowledged Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights in Syria, moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and oversaw the restoration of diplomatic relations between Israel and a number of other Arab international locations by means of the Accords. Abraham.
It additionally reversed the long-standing U.S. place that settlements within the occupied West Financial institution are unlawful underneath worldwide legislation. His first time period within the White Home noticed an explosion of unlawful settlements within the West Financial institution that continued after his 2020 election defeat.
Whereas the Biden administration has repeatedly refused to faucet U.S. navy assist to Israel to curb the increasing conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, Israeli settlements have been one space the place officers have raised considerations.
The administration has imposed sanctions on teams and people linked to settler violence, a transfer that some analysts consider Trump will shortly reverse. Final yr, america summoned Israel’s present ambassador to the nation, Mike Herzog, over an Israeli legislation permitting settlement growth within the northern West Financial institution.
Omer-Man stated Leiter’s appointment is probably going a primary step in laying the groundwork for broader annexation of the West Financial institution and potential efforts to resettle Gaza after the conflict. This final level has been pushed by the Israeli Minister of Nationwide Safety, Itamar Ben-Gvir, himself a settler.
Leiter’s appointment is “no less than a concession by Netanyahu to the settlement motion, however in all probability greater than that, it is a sign of the place Netanyahu is headed,” Omer-Man stated.
“We’re going to see many extra indicators of this sort,” he added. “The intent is solely to go a lot additional than in Trump’s first time period.”
