Israel contacts a staunch supporter of illegal settlements as ambassador to the US | Benjamin Netanyahu News

The election of Yechiel Leiter comes days after Trump's election victory and is predicted to change US-Israel policy.

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

Leiter, a US citizen who lives in Israeli territory in the heavily populated West Bank, has long been a proponent of illegal settlement expansion. His appointment coincides with the Netanyahu government's enthusiastic response to Trump's return to the White House.

Trump took a staunch stance toward Israel during his first term, especially when it came to Israeli settlements, saying “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 serving as Netanyahu's chief of staff when the prime minister was finance secretary. He has served as the deputy director general of the Ministry of Education and the acting chairman of the Israel Ports Company.

In a statement, Netanyahu called Leiter “a highly skilled politician, an eloquent speaker” who deeply understands American culture and politics.

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

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

'The mighty streams'

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Michael Omer-Man, director of Israel-Palestine research for Democracy for the Arab World Now, said Leiter appeared to be a shrewd political actor “working to suppress American views about the Israeli settlements and the legitimacy of the rule of Israel throughout the land in all his work.”

Omer-Man added that Leiter is “ideologically aligned with the strongest currents of Israeli settlement thought and ideological movements”.

Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.

Leiter continues to live in the Eli neighborhood north of Ramallah, according to Israeli media, and is listed as one of the founders of a New York-based group – the One Israel Fund – that supports settlers in the ravaged West Bank.

His appointment underscores the Israeli government's expectation of a broader, more favorable White House policy when Trump takes office in January.

During his first term, Trump recognized Israel's sovereignty over the 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 West Bank are illegal under international law. His first term in the White House saw an explosion in illegal settlements in the West Bank that continued after he lost the 2020 election.

While the Biden administration has repeatedly refused to use US military aid to Israel to contain the escalating war in Gaza and Lebanon, Israeli settlements have been one area where officials have expressed concern.

The administration has imposed sanctions on groups and individuals linked to violence against tribal residents – a move some analysts believe will be quickly rescinded by Trump. Last year, the US subpoenaed Israel's current ambassador to the country, Mike Herzog, over Israel's law allowing for the expansion of settlements in the northern West Bank.

Omer-Man said that Leiter's appointment may be the first step in building the foundation for a wider expansion of the West Bank and possible efforts to resettle Gaza after the war. That last item was pushed by Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is also an immigrant.

Leiter's appointment “is at least an endorsement of Netanyahu's organization, but perhaps more than that, it is an indication of where Netanyahu is going”, Omer-Man said.

“We will see more of these signs,” he added. “The goal is to just go further than they did in Trump's first term.”