Netanyahu to dispatch new envoy to US once Trump returns to the White House
PM thanks Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog for ‘significant’ contribution during wartime; Yechiel Leiter to succeed him; evangelical ally of Trump: Israel must end wars by January
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will send a new ambassador to Washington as he gears up for the next Trump administration, which he hopes will be far more accommodating to Israel than the outgoing Biden government.
Netanyahu’s office announced on Thursday that he has asked the current ambassador in Washington, Michael Herzog, to extend his three-year term until US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
While couched as an extension, the announcement effectively denies Herzog, who was appointed by the previous government, an additional year in the post.
The statement, which came after Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, noted that Netanyahu will announce a new Israeli envoy on Friday.
Update: Netanyahu on Friday named Yechiel Leiter as the next ambassador to the US. The US-born Leiter, who holds a PhD from Haifa University, has served as deputy director-general of the Education Ministry, chief of staff of then-finance minister Netanyahu and acting chairman of the Ports Authority.
Channel 12 news had reported Thursday that Ophir Falk, a senior Netanyahu adviser who has been heavily involved in talks to secure a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, was rumored to be the premier’s pick for the key diplomatic placement.
The report also said that several Likud members were angling for the job, including Likud MK and former editor-in-chief of the pro-Netanyahu Israel Hayom daily Boaz Bismuth and Israel’s consul-general in New York, Ofir Akunis, who Channel 12 reported would be “happy to get an upgrade.” Bismuth served as Israel’s ambassador to Mauritania between 2004 and 2008.
“The prime minister thanked Ambassador Herzog for his work over the last three years and for his significant professional contribution, especially during a challenging war period,” said the PMO.
Trump and Netanyahu spoke on Wednesday following the former US president’s stunning comeback victory, with the Prime Minister’s Office saying in a statement that “the two had agreed to work together for Israel’s security” and “discussed the Iranian threat.”
Also gearing up for January, a top evangelical ally of Trump and longtime confidant of Netanyahu warned that Israel must end the wars in Gaza and Lebanon by the time the Republican returns to office.
“The window is open,” Mike Evans told The Times of Israel from his Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem on Thursday. “It’ll close on the 20th of January. Donald Trump does not want this to be happening in the first year of his presidency.”
The Times of Israel reported last week that Trump had told Netanyahu that he wanted Israel to wrap up the war in Gaza by the time he returns to office were he to win the election.
“You don’t want to put Donald Trump into a position to have to defend a Middle East war,” Evans continued. “He’s repulsed by Middle East wars.”
Trump, Evans said, doesn’t want to be the wartime president. “Israel needs to know that and do everything humanly possible while the windows open.”
He said that he doesn’t think the isolationist wing of the Republican Party — which includes figures like Tucker Carlson and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance — will take over Trump’s foreign policy in his second term: “Tucker Carlson is a talk show host. I don’t think that Donald Trump embraces Tucker Carlson’s ideology on isolationism at all.”
Evans was among the key Christian leaders who consolidated Evangelical support for Trump in 2016. He said that continued support from that large constituency is contingent on support for Israel.
“In 2016, it was Roe v. Wade and Israel,” he said. “There is no Roe v. Wade now. The major thing for Evangelicals now is Israel.”
He added that the massive billboards he paid for across central Israel calling on Trump to “Make Israel Great Again” are a reminder to the president-elect.
“I’m talking to Donald Trump right now through the billboards, and he knows those billboards are up.”
A man walks past a large billboard congratulating US President-elect Donald Trump, on the facade of Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem, 07 November 2024. ???? EPA / Vassil Donev #Israel #USA #Elections pic.twitter.com/7hMgatPfYi
— EPA Images (@EPA_Images) November 7, 2024
Also Thursday, meanwhile, President Isaac Herzog, who is also the ambassador’s brother, spoke with Trump to congratulate him on his win this week, stressing “the very urgent need to advance the return of the Israeli hostages, who have been held captive by Hamas for 400 days in terrible suffering.”
Trump emphasized his love and support for Israel, according to the Israeli readout.
“The presidents agreed that they will continue and stay in touch for the benefit of continuing the fruitful cooperation between the governments and strengthening the deep alliance between the countries,” said Herzog’s office.
A former US official told the Times of Israel last week that the pre-inauguration day victory that Trump wants Israel to secure in Gaza also includes the return of the hostages. And Trump himself warned at the Republican National Convention in July that those holding American hostages abroad would “pay a very big price” if they aren’t released before he assumes office.
Since the Republican victory on Wednesday, the families of seven American hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, have called on Trump’s transition to begin working with the Biden administration in order to secure the release of their loved ones.
It is believed that 97 of 251 hostages abducted by terrorists on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
