List of ambassadors of the United States to Israel

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

Ambassador of the United States to the State of Israel
שגריר ארצות הברית לישראל
سفير الولايات المتحدة لدى إسرائيل
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent
Stephanie Hallett
Chargé d’Affaires ad interim
since July 21, 2023
NominatorThe President of the United States
AppointerThe President
with Senate advice and consent
Inaugural holderJames Grover McDonald
as Ambassador
FormationMarch 28, 1949
WebsiteU.S. Embassy - Jerusalem
Ambassador Shapiro presents his credentials to President Peres, August 3, 2011

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

U.S. diplomatic terms

Career FSO
After 1915, The United States Department of State began classifying ambassadors as career Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) for those who have served in the Foreign Service for a specified amount of time.

Political appointee
A person who is not a career foreign service officer, but is appointed by the president (often as a reward to political friends).

Appointed
The date that the ambassador took the oath of office; also known as "commissioning". It follows confirmation of a presidential appointment by the Senate, or a Congressional recess appointment by the president. In the case of a recess appointment, the ambassador requires subsequent confirmation by the Senate to remain in office.

Presented credentials
The date that the ambassador presented his letter of credence to the head of state or appropriate authority of the receiving nation. At this time the ambassador officially becomes the representative of his country. This would normally occur a short time after the ambassador's arrival on station. The host nation may reject the ambassador by not receiving the ambassador's letter, but this occurs only rarely.

Terminated mission
Usually the date that the ambassador left the country. In some cases a letter of recall is presented, ending the ambassador's commission, either as a means of diplomatic protest or because the diplomat is being reassigned elsewhere and replaced by another envoy.

Chargé d'affaires
The person in charge of the business of the embassy when there is no ambassador commissioned to the host country.

Ad interim
Latin phrase meaning "for the time being", "in the meantime".
Image Name Appointed Presented credentials Terminated mission
James Grover McDonald – Political appointee March 18, 1949 March 28, 1949 December 13, 1950
Monnett Bain Davis – Career FSO February 1, 1951 February 26, 1951 Died at post December 26, 1953
Edward B. Lawson – Career FSO April 9, 1954 November 12, 1954 February 17, 1959
Ogden Rogers Reid – Political Appointee June 5, 1959 July 2, 1959 Left Israel January 19, 1961
Walworth Barbour – Career FSO May 11, 1961 June 12, 1961 January 19, 1973
Kenneth B. Keating – Political appointee June 22, 1973 August 28, 1973 Died in New York May 5, 1975[2]
Malcolm Toon – Career FSO June 9, 1975 July 10, 1975 December 27, 1976
Samuel W. Lewis – Career FSO April 26, 1977 May 25, 1977 May 31, 1985
Thomas R. Pickering – Career FSO July 12, 1985 August 6, 1985 December 28, 1988
William Andreas Brown – Career FSO[3] November 22, 1988 December 29, 1988 January 7, 1992
William Caldwell Harrop – Career FSO November 21, 1991 January 21, 1992 May 7, 1993
Edward Djerejian – Career FSO November 22, 1993 January 13, 1994 August 9, 1994
Martin Indyk – Political appointee March 4, 1995 April 10, 1995 September 27, 1997
Edward S. Walker, Jr. – Career FSO November 10, 1997 December 24, 1997 January 23, 2000
Martin Indyk – Political appointee November 16, 1999 January 25, 2000 July 13, 2001
Daniel C. Kurtzer – Career FSO July 12, 2001 July 18, 2001 July 17, 2005
Richard Henry Jones – Career FSO August 2, 2005 September 26, 2005 April 27, 2008
James B. Cunningham – Career FSO June 30, 2008 September 17, 2008 May 21, 2011
Daniel B. Shapiro – Political appointee July 8, 2011[4] August 3, 2011 January 20, 2017
David M. Friedman – Political appointee March 23, 2017 May 15, 2017 January 20, 2021
Thomas R. Nides – Political appointee June 15, 2021 December 5, 2021 July 21, 2023
Stephanie Hallett – Acting FSO July 21, 2023[5] – Incumbent

List source:[6]

Notes
  1. "Israel". United States Department of State. Retrieved 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. "Swearing-In Ceremony for Dan Shapiro, Ambassador to Israel". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 2011-10-18. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  5. "Stephanie Hallett replaces Tom Nides as US ambassador to Israel". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2023-07-21. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  6. "Chiefs of Mission for Israel". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2011-08-13.

See also

References
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