List of ambassadors of the United States to Israel explained

Post:Ambassador
Body:the United States to the State of Israel
שגריר ארצות הברית לישראל
سفير الولايات المتحدة لدى إسرائيل
Insignia:US Department of State official seal.svg
Insigniasize:120px
Insigniacaption:Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent:Jack Lew
Incumbentsince:November 5, 2023
Nominator:The President of the United States
Appointer:The President
Appointer Qualified:with Senate advice and consent
Inaugural:James Grover McDonald
as Ambassador
Formation:March 28, 1949
Website:U.S. Embassy - Jerusalem

The United States ambassador to Israel is the official representative of the president of the United States to the head of state of Israel.

Until 1948 the area that is now the state of Israel had been under British administration as part of the League of Nations/United Nations British Mandate for Palestine. On May 14, 1948, the British government unilaterally terminated the mandate. On the same day, the Jewish Agency, under future Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, declared independence and named the country Israel. The United States immediately recognized the nation and moved to establish diplomatic relations. The first U.S. ambassador commissioned to Israel was James Grover McDonald, who presented his credentials to the government of Israel on March 28, 1949.[1] The ambassador holds the title Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

The embassy of the United States in Israel is located at 14 David Flusser Street in Jerusalem.

Ambassadors and chiefs of mission

!Image!Name!Appointed!Presented credentials!Terminated mission
James Grover McDonald – Political appointeeMarch 18, 1949March 28, 1949December 13, 1950
Monnett Bain Davis – Career FSOFebruary 1, 1951February 26, 1951Died at post December 26, 1953
Edward B. Lawson – Career FSOApril 9, 1954November 12, 1954February 17, 1959
Ogden Rogers Reid – Political AppointeeJune 5, 1959July 2, 1959Left Israel January 19, 1961
Walworth Barbour – Career FSOMay 11, 1961June 12, 1961January 19, 1973
Kenneth B. Keating – Political appointeeJune 22, 1973August 28, 1973Died in New York May 5, 1975[2]
Malcolm Toon – Career FSOJune 9, 1975July 10, 1975December 27, 1976
Samuel W. Lewis – Career FSOApril 26, 1977May 25, 1977May 31, 1985
Thomas R. Pickering – Career FSOJuly 12, 1985August 6, 1985December 28, 1988
William Andreas Brown – Career FSO[3] November 22, 1988December 29, 1988January 7, 1992
William Caldwell Harrop – Career FSONovember 21, 1991January 21, 1992May 7, 1993
Edward Djerejian – Career FSONovember 22, 1993January 13, 1994August 9, 1994
Martin Indyk – Political appointeeMarch 4, 1995April 10, 1995September 27, 1997
Edward S. Walker, Jr. – Career FSONovember 10, 1997December 24, 1997January 23, 2000
Martin Indyk – Political appointeeNovember 16, 1999January 25, 2000July 13, 2001
Daniel C. Kurtzer – Career FSOJuly 12, 2001July 18, 2001July 17, 2005
Richard Henry Jones – Career FSOAugust 2, 2005September 26, 2005April 27, 2008
James B. Cunningham – Career FSOJune 30, 2008September 17, 2008May 21, 2011
Daniel B. Shapiro – Political appointeeJuly 8, 2011[4] August 3, 2011January 20, 2017
David M. Friedman – Political appointeeMarch 23, 2017May 15, 2017January 20, 2021
Thomas R. Nides – Political appointeeNovember 3, 2021December 5, 2021July 21, 2023
Stephanie Hallett – Career FSO - Chargé d'affaires ad interimJuly 21, 2023[5] N/ANovember 5, 2023
Jack Lew - Political appointeeOctober 31, 2023[6] November 5, 2023Incumbent
List source:[7]

See also

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Israel. United States Department of State. 2011-08-13.
  2. Ambassador Keating had departed Tel Aviv on March 31, 1975 for consultations on the reassessment of American policy in the Middle East and died in New York on May 5.
  3. Brown was commissioned during a recess of the Senate; his nomination of May 24, 1988 had not been acted upon by the Senate. He was recommissioned October 2, 1989 after confirmation.
  4. Web site: Swearing-In Ceremony for Dan Shapiro, Ambassador to Israel. https://web.archive.org/web/20111018215735/http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/07/167946.htm. dead. 2011-10-18. United States Department of State. 2011-08-13.
  5. Web site: 2023-07-21 . Stephanie Hallett replaces Tom Nides as US ambassador to Israel . 2023-10-07 . The Jerusalem Post JPost.com . en-US.
  6. News: Jack Lew confirmed as ambassador to Israel as the country's war rages on with Hamas. Rachel . Looker. USA Today. October 31, 2023. Yahoo! News.
  7. Web site: Chiefs of Mission for Israel. 2011-08-13. United States Department of State.