Former US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk dies at age 73
Israeli and American leaders eulogize veteran diplomat who dedicated his life to Middle East policy, serving as key figure in Oslo Accords, Obama’s effort to revive peace process
Veteran diplomat and historian, former United States ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk died of cancer on Thursday at age 73, at his home in Connecticut.
The founding executive director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Indyk served two stints as America’s envoy to Israel, in 1995-1997 and 2000-2001.
His wife, Gahl Hodges Burt, was quoted by The Washington Post as saying the cause of his death was esophageal cancer.
Fellow veteran Mideast diplomat Dennis Ross wrote on social media that Indyk battled cancer “the way he lived his life, with purpose and an unrelenting spirit.”
“Martin lived a life of meaning; he pursued peace-making between Israel and its neighbors with passion, skill and decency.”
Born in London to a Jewish family who had immigrated from Poland, he was raised in Sydney, Australia. He moved to Israel for his university studies and volunteered at a kibbutz in the south of the country during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
In 1982, he moved to the United States and began working for pro-Israel interest group AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) before founding The Washington Institute think tank in 1985. He became an American citizen in 1993 and joined the US National Security Council a short while later.
He later sat on the board of the New Israel Fund, which serves as an umbrella group funding dozens of progressive civil society organizations operating in Israel and the West Bank.
While serving as US ambassador to Israel under then-US president Bill Clinton, Indyk helped to broker the Oslo Accords, which collapsed with the horrors of the Second Intifada in the early 2000s.
While Indyk leveled most of the blame on then-Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat for the collapse of the peace process, he was similarly vocal in his criticism of the Israeli settlement policy and also issued calls for shared control over Jerusalem.
He went on to serve as the Obama administration’s special Middle East envoy and was a key figure in efforts to renew the peace process in 2013-2014, which were ultimately unsuccessful.
Indyk had recently been highly critical on social media of the current Netanyahu government and its handling of the ongoing war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack.
Usually a frequent tweeter, he had not posted since June 20, when he accused Netanyahu of “playing the martyr in a crisis he manufactured.”
Indyk told Foreign Affairs on October 7 that the unprecedented Hamas onslaught was “a total system failure on Israel’s part,” caused in part by “hubris—an Israeli belief that sheer force could deter Hamas, and that Israel did not have to address the long-term problems.”
He was a staunch proponent of the two-state solution and published three books on Middle East diplomacy.
Current Washington Institute Executive Director Robert Satloff said Indyk was “a true American success story” who “came to Washington to have an impact on the making of American Middle East policy and that he surely did – as pioneering scholar, insightful analyst and remarkably effective policy entrepreneur.
“He was a visionary who not only founded an organization based on the idea that wise public policy is rooted in sound research, he embodied it. His contributions to the growth and development of The Washington Institute — and to the definition and execution of US Middle East policy, more generally — are both legendary and immeasurable.”
In a statement on Thursday, President Isaac Herzog remembered Indyk as “a true gentleman and a renowned scholar.”
“His tireless dedication to strengthening the bond between Israel and the US, his profound love for the land and people of Israel, and his significant contributions to the peace process in our region will never be forgotten. Our thoughts are with his family. May his memory be a blessing,” Herzog said.
Former Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren also eulogized Indyk on X, writing, “I was saddened to learn of the passing of Ambassador Martin Indyk, an outstanding statesman, author, and champion of peace with whom I had the honor to work for many years. May his memory always be blessed.”
In December 2022, the veteran diplomat said he foresaw “dark times” before Israelis and Palestinians approach peace again, but said that the moment would eventually come.
“At the end of my journey I’m reconciled to the idea that I will not see peace in my time,” Indyk told the audience at an Israel Policy Forum event held in his honor in New York City. The forum is an American Jewish organization dedicated to working toward a two-state solution.
“Peace for Israel will surely come. It is bound to come as a result unfortunately of violence and conflict,” he said. “The arc of the Arab-Israeli conflict is long but I know from my experience it bends toward peace.”
