Jerusalem – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has chosen a U.S.-born expert on Middle Eastern affairs, Michael Oren, as the Jewish state’s new ambassador to Washington, Israeli political sources said Saturday.
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Netanyahu’s right-leaning cabinet was expected to confirm Oren, 54, senior fellow at a conservative Jerusalem think-tank, ahead of Netanyahu’s planned talks with President Barack Obama in Washington later this month, the sources said.
Oren, an immigrant raised in New Jersey and a frequent commentator on Israeli affairs who has appeared before Congress, would replace Sallai Meridor, who served under Israel’s former prime minister, centrist Ehud Olmert.
The new ambassador was chosen as Israel’s President Shimon Peres headed to Washington for talks with Obama and to participate in a meeting of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Though Peres’s job is largely ceremonial, some Israeli officials hope the Nobel peace prize laureate can help ease tensions with the Obama administration, which seeks to revive talks for a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Netanyahu, elected in February on a pledge to adopt a tougher stance in peace talks, has stopped short of committing to a goal of achieving Palestinian statehood in Gaza or the occupied West Bank.
Good choice. The new ambassador is an historian and has written a fine account of the 1967 War, among other things.
amazing. this man is an intellectual and a professor yale check out his youtube videos, no question a brilliant guy
Mazel Tov!
this guy is brilliant he has an excellent book on 67 war i suggest everyone read it
Dr. Michael Oren favors Israel withdrawing unilaterally from most of Judea and Samaria and razing most settlements. Still think this is a good choice?
We finally have an articulate PM and an Ambassador to Washington. Maybe now we can win friends and influence people.