Israel's US ambassador Yechiel Leiter relives his knock on history's door 

Photos: Avi Ohayon / GPO

Ever since he was a young boy growing up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Yechiel Leiter felt drawn to the Jewish People’s G-d-given land. Decades later, as Israel’s new ambassador to the United States, Leiter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help influence history. Through his close contact with White House advisors and the State Department, he’s a power-player in cementing the relationship between Israel and its most important global strategic ally during these challenging and harrowing times

Yechiel Leiter was the first ambassador from a foreign country to present his letter of credentials to President Trump, just four days after Trump was inaugurated for a second term. While the text of such letters is usually formulaic, introducing the new ambassador and authorizing him to represent his home country, Leiter chose to exercise some literary license.

“I was given a very nice letter, but I decided to rewrite it,” Leiter said. “The first sentence I wrote was that I represent the people indigenous to the land of Israel. I wanted that to be my first remark upon arriving here in Washington.

“We are not interlopers. We are not colonizers. We are not strangers to the land of Israel. The land of Israel and the people of Israel stand together. It’s part of the same equation, and they can’t be separated.”

President Trump understands this, but during his first 100 days as Israel’s new ambassador to the United States, Dr. Yechiel Leiter aims to ensure that the message resonates clearly with the diverse range of American public officials he interacts with.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was confident he could rely on Leiter to accurately represent his positions and Israel’s status in the world when he appointed him last November to succeed former ambassador Michael Herzog. Netanyahu and Leiter have shared political views for decades. In 1994, when Bibi strongly opposed the Oslo Accords as the head of the Knesset opposition, Dr. Leiter published “A Peace Plan to Resist,” expressing strong opposition to the Accords.

As befits America’s role as its most crucial ally, Israel’s embassy in Washington is the largest in the world. The embassy’s primary function is to represent Israel’s foreign policy and to act as a liaison to strengthen ties between Israel and the US.

For Yechiel Leiter, this means maintaining a nonstop schedule throughout the week, with each day presenting new surprises and challenges.

“I often say I’m on a roller coaster,” he said. “The only difference is that on a roller coaster, you know where the turns are coming.”

Just before our Zoom interview two weeks ago, Leiter had returned from a meeting with 40 law students at Georgetown University who were dealing with anti-Semitism on campus. He conducted a seminar on international relations and responded to their questions about what it means to show leadership. The day prior, he spent half the day with the National Security Council, discussing developments in Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza, along with the perennial threat to Israel — Iran.

When we finished our interview, Leiter was off to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress, including Republicans and Democrats, whether they’re pro-Israel, on the fence, or negative.

“Sometimes [my job] just includes listening, lending an ear, and saying Israel is listening to you, even if we don’t agree,” Leiter said.