Former US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk dies at age 73

Former US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk has died at age 73, The Washington Institute announces.

Indyk was the institute’s founding executive director. He served as US envoy to Israel in 1995-1997 and 2000-2001.

He was also the Obama administration’s special Middle East envoy and was involved in efforts to renew the peace process in 2013-2014, which were ultimately unsuccessful.

Fellow veteran Mideast diplomat Dennis Ross writes that Indyk died of cancer, which he battled “the way he lived his life, with purpose and an unrelenting spirit.”

Indyk had recently been highly critical on social media of the current Netanyahu government and its handling of the war in Gaza and ties to the US.

Usually a frequent tweeter, he had not posted since June 20.

Current Washington Institute Executive Director Robert Satloff says 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.”