As Israel prepares for the incoming administration of President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed a hardline supporter of the Gaza war and longtime supporter of West Bank settlements as ambassador to the United States.
Yekiel Reiter, an American-born right-wing publicist and former government aide who immigrated to Israel 40 years ago, was announced Friday as Israel's next ambassador to Washington. Her son, a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, was killed in fighting in northern Gaza last year.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement announcing his appointment that Reiter is “an extremely talented diplomat, eloquent and with a deep understanding of American culture and politics.” “I am confident that Mr. Ekiel will represent the State of Israel in the best way possible and I wish him success in his position.”
Reiter will succeed current ambassador Michael Herzog, whose term ends on January 20th.
Mr. Reiter, born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, is a prominent Israeli right-wing ideologue who served as Prime Minister Netanyahu's chief of staff when he was finance minister and as a close aide to the late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon when he was a member of Congress.
According to Israeli media, Reiter is affiliated with conservative policy centers such as the Jerusalem Public Affairs Center and the Kohelet Forum.
Haaretz also reported that he was once a member of the Jewish Defense League, founded by far-right Rabbi Meir Kahane and designated a terrorist organization by the United States for a series of attacks and assassinations. Removed from list due to inactivity.
Reiter reportedly lives in a West Bank settlement north of Ramallah and is the founder of the One Israel Fund, which raises money for settlers. Right-wing settler leader Israel Gantz praised his appointment, calling Reiter a “key partner in English-language advocacy for Judea and Samaria” (the Israeli settler community's Biblical term for the West Bank). I called.
He is a vocal supporter of President Trump's Abraham Accords, which aimed to normalize relations between Israel and several Arab powers, and said the Islamic world's support for the Palestinian cause is divided. It also calls for ultimate Israeli “sovereignty” over the West Bank territory, a topic that will reignite concerns about a possible annexation of the West Bank by Netanyahu's government.
During his first term, President Trump reversed the U.S. position that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank were illegal under international law, and many settler leaders are calling for Trump to be re-elected for a second term. In response, Israel has stated that it should formally annex the West Bank.
Reiter's son Moshe was killed in fighting in northern Gaza last year. He was Netanyahu's guest in Washington this summer during a controversial speech to a joint session of both houses of Congress.
Last November, at his son's funeral at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl Military Cemetery, Reiter spoke about Joe Biden and “rumors that you are pressuring Israel to refrain from attacking.”
“If those rumors are true, and I hope they're not, then, Mr. President, here on my son's grave I humbly ask you to cease and desist,” he said. continued. “Stand back, Mr. President, don’t pressure us. Let’s do what we know and what we actually have to do to defeat evil. It is a battle between darkness, truth and lies, civility and brutal barbarism.
“From one outspoken Scrantonian to another Scrantonian, we are going to win this with or without you,” he said. “We will definitely win, because we are a people who are trying to survive, and this is a fight for survival.”
