Israel taps staunch supporter of illegal settlements as ambassador to US

Yechiel Leiter’s selection comes days after Trump election victory and presages expected US-Israel policy shift.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has selected Yechiel Leiter as the new Israeli ambassador to the United States, days after Republican Donald Trump was elected for a second term in the White House.

Leiter, a US-born resident of an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, has long been a proponent of illegal settlement expansion. His selection coincides with the Netanyahu government’s enthusiastic response to Trump’s return to the White House.

Trump took a steadfastly loyal approach to Israel during his first term, particularly when it came to Israeli settlements, claiming “the Jewish state has never had a better friend in the White House.”

In a statement on Friday, Netanyahu’s office pointed to Leiter’s past positions in the Israeli government, including as Netanyahu’s chief of staff when the prime minister was the secretary of finance. He has also served as the deputy director general of the Ministry of Education and acting chairman of the Israel Ports Company.

In a statement, Netanyahu called Leiter “a highly capable diplomat, an eloquent speaker” with a deep understanding of American culture and politics.

Leiter, who was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, also the hometown of US President Joe Biden, has recently been a leading voice calling for more Israeli soldiers fighting in Gaza and Lebanon – and their families – to play a larger role in government.

His son, Moshe Leiter, was killed in northern Gaza in November last year.

‘Most radical streams’

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Michael Omer-Man, the director of research on Israel-Palestine for Democracy for the Arab World Now, said Leiter has proved to be a savvy political actor “who has been working to push American perceptions about Israeli settlement movement and the righteousness of Israeli domination of the entire land for really his whole career.”

Omer-Man added that Leiter “is somebody who is ideologically aligned with the most radical streams of Israeli settlement intellectual thought and ideological movement”.

Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.

Leiter continues to live in the settlement of Eli located north of Ramallah, according to Israeli media, and is listed as the founding chairman of a New York-based group – One Israel Fund – which supports settlers in the occupied West Bank.

His appointment underscores the Israeli government’s expectation of a wider, more permissive policy pivot by the White House when Trump takes office in January.

During his first term, Trump recognised Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights in Syria, moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and oversaw the restoration of diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab countries through the Abraham Accords.

He also reversed the long-held US position that settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law. His first stint in the White House saw an explosion in illegal settlements in the West Bank that continued after his election loss in 2020.

While the Biden administration has repeatedly declined to leverage US military aid to Israel to rein in the expanding war in Gaza and Lebanon, Israeli settlements have been one area where officials have expressed concerns.

The administration has imposed sanctions on groups and individuals linked to settler violence – a move that some analysts believe will be swiftly reversed by Trump. Last year, the US summoned Israel’s current ambassador to the country, Mike Herzog, over an Israeli law that allowed for the expansion of settlements in the northern West Bank.

Omer-Man said Leiter’s appointment is likely an early step in laying the groundwork for wider annexation of the West Bank and possible efforts to resettle Gaza after the war. That last item has been pushed by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, himself a settler.

Leiter’s appointment is “at the very least a concession to the settlement movement by Netanyahu, but probably more than that, it’s an indication of where Netanyahu’s going”, Omer-Man said.

“We’re going to see a lot more of these signals,” he added. “The intention is to simply go way further than they did in the first Trump term.”