Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tapped Dr. Yechiel Leiter as the next Israeli Ambassador to the United States.
Leiter was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and immigrated to Israel at the age of 18. He holds an undergraduate degree in law, a Bachelor of Arts in political science, a Master of Arts in international relations, and a PhD in political philosophy from the University of Haifa.
Dr. Leiter has served in senior public service positions in Israel, including Education Ministry Deputy Director General, Chief-of-Staff to the Finance Minister, and acting Chairman of the Israel Ports Company.
Leiter lost his son Maj. Moshe (Yedidya) Leiter in a battle in northern Gaza a year ago.
Prime Minister Netanyahu stated: "Yechiel Leiter is a highly capable diplomat, an eloquent speaker, and possesses a deep understanding of American culture and politics. I am convinced that Yechiel will represent the State of Israel in the best way possible. I wish him success in his position."
Governor of the Binyamin Regional Council and Chairman of the Yesha Council, Yisrael Ganz, praised the appointment. "On behalf of the entire Yesha Council family, I congratulate our friend Dr. Yechiel Leiter on his appointment as Israel's Ambassador to the United States. Dr. Leiter established the international desk at the Yesha Council in the 1990s and has since been a key partner in English-language advocacy for Judea and Samaria."
"Dr. Leiter, a resident of Gush Etzion, is a man of many achievements and great merit, who paid a heavy price about a year ago with the tragic loss of his heroic son, Major Moshe Leiter, of blessed memory. There is no one more fitting to represent the State of Israel in the United States at this historic time, and we wish him great success in his important mission."
At his son's funeral, Dr. Leiter conveyed a message to US President Joe Biden, saying: "We have two things in common, me and you. Number one - we were both born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, I still have my bank account at PNC Bank on Joe Biden Boulevard. My mom, may she live until 120, lives in Scranton; she's a real Scrantonian, and my maternal grandparents are buried in Scranton.
"The second thing we have in common is as of last Friday, I, like you, am a bereaved parent; you lost a son, and I lost a son," he added.
He continued: "What I want to say to you here and now about our dear Moshe is that he was fighting your fight, Mr. President. He was fighting our fight. He gave his life so the barbarians wouldn't get through the gates of democracy and the Judeo-Christian Western values. He was fighting for human freedom and against all the lies and distortions of the freedom deniers who fooled so many Americans with their double talk. He was fighting against Hamas-ISIS.
"There are rumors now that you are putting pressure on Israel to hold off, to cease the offensive. If those rumors are true, I respectfully ask of you, here on my son's grave, cease and desist, stand back, Mr. President, don't pressure us. Let us do what we know how to do and what we must do: defeat evil. This is a war of light against darkness, of truth against lies, of civility against murderous barbarism," he declared.
"Take it from one clean-speaking Scrantonian to another: we're going to win this one, with you or without. We're going to win it hands down. Never have the people of Israel been so united. This is our job; it's what the Jewish people are here in this world to do: to fix the world! Sometimes, fixing the world needs strength and force. My Moshe died for a cause, stand with us, Mr. President. Maybe, as we read in the Biblical book of Esther, it is the whole reason you are the leader of the free world. All of your long and illustrious career of leadership was preparation for this very moment. Those who stand with us will be blessed. Those who do not stand with us will fail. Stand with Moshe, who loved America and even trained with the Delta Force during his army service."