World Jewish News

Michael Oren, 58, who will finish his term this fall, said he will continue ‘’to serve the people of Israel’’ without specifying in what capacity.

Israel’s Ambassador in Washington steps down after more than four years

Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, is stepping down after more than four years on the job, the Embassy in Washington announced Friday.
Oren, 58, who will finish his term this fall, said he will continue ‘’to serve the people of Israel’’ without specifying in what capacity.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to represent the State of Israel and its Government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to the United States, President Barack Obama, the Congress, and the American people,” he said in a statement, adding that “Israel and the United States have always enjoyed a special relationship and, throughout these years of challenge, I was privileged to take part in forging even firmer bonds.”
Oren, a political appointee, is an American-born historian who made aliyah to Israel as a young adult. Prior to serving as ambassador he was a researcher at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem and is the author of a best selling book about Israel’s 1967 war.
Before being tapped in 2009 by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to be Israel's envoy to the U.S., Oren had volunteered as a military liaison officer, briefing reporters during Israel's offensive that year against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
A frequent face on Sunday morning news shows, Oren may have had a diminished role as a direct messenger between the two countries due to the perception that he was outside of Netanyahu's inner circle, according to Aaron David Miller, the Woodrow Wilson Center scholar who was a Mideast negotiator under six US Secretaries of State.
"Oren was last in a series of Israel-US ambassadors that neither the president nor the secretary of state nor the prime minister really utilized," Miller said. "They all had their own channels."
Secretary of State John Kerry, who has spent much of his first months in office attempting to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, called Oren "unfailingly candid" and a passionate advocate for Israel.
"He's certainly been a terrific partner in our efforts to help the parties find a way back to the table," Kerry said Friday in a statement.
According to the Israeli media, the favorite to replace Oren is longtime Netanyahu adviser Ron Dermer, an American-born Israeli and former Republican activist.

by: Andrew Zimmer

EJP