US Ambassador Shapiro and Preident Peres
US Ambassador Shapiro and Preident PeresArutz Sheva: Photo by office of the President

Daniel Shapiro, a personal appointment of President Barack Obama and who speaks both Arabic and Hebrew, was happily welcomed Wednesday by President Shimon Peres, known as Israel's Number One seeker of peace agreements. Shapiro's political and Jewish backgrounds fit the visions of Presidents Peres and Obama.

The Israeli president has used his usual ceremonial position to actively work behind the scenes for his dream of a peace treaty with the Palestinian Authority.

Shapiro incorporated the slogan ”Jewish and democratic State of Israel” in his comments, diplomatic jargon for a future Israel that is devoid of a Jewish presence in most of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, a view shared by Presidents Peres and Obama.

Israel expelled more than 9,000 Jews frm Gaza and withdrew all military presence in the terrorist-infested region six years ago, under the premise that it would end rocket attacks on the rest of the country. After Hamas escalated attacks and launched missiles that reached the southern edge of metropolitan Tel Aviv, President Peres said he could not understand why Hamas continued to attack Israeli civilians and soldiers.

The new ambassador was sworn into office last month in Washington and repeated President Obama’s view that security depends on Israel’s security.

As director for the Middle East and North Africa at the National Security Council and a senior adviser to President Obama, Shapiro, like Obama, defines “security” by Israel's granting the Palestinian Authority independent status with a capital in Jerusalem and sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.

Shapiro, who indentifies with the Conservative stream of Judaism, earned a degree in Jewish Studies from the liberal Brandeis University and studied for one year at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he met Arab as well as Jewish students.

"I consider President Barack Obama…a friend of the Jewish people and the State of Israel," President Peres said at Wednesday’s ceremonial reception of the new ambassador. I am happy that you were appointed ambassador, and you know thoroughly the wide range of issues that stand as the basis for Israeli-American relations.”

Shapiro told the President, “The relations between the United States and Israel are the most important and strongest in the world. We have common interests and values that unite us as two democracies, and we are struggling against the same threats.”

Shapiro added that the United States and Israel “cooperate excellently in intelligence.”

The ”common threat” is Iran’s nuclear development program, and the common interest is a peace treaty with the Palestinian Authority. President Peres told Shapiro that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas made a “mistake” in trying to approach the United Nations for a resolution recognizing the PA as an independent country based on its political and territorial demands.

He said the move will cause damage both to Israel and the Palestinian Authority and will not answer basic problems, which he said include the increased use of smuggling tunnels for terror and Iran’s attempt to reach capability of delivering a nuclear weapon.