{{Short description|American diplomat (born 1974)}} {{use mdy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Yael Lempert | image = Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Yael Lempert.jpg | office = United States Ambassador to Jordan | term_start = September 3, 2023 | term_end = January 20, 2025<ref>{{cite web|title=US ambassadors to Jordan and Saudi Arabia end postings with Trump's return|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/us-ambassadors-to-jordan-and-saudi-arabia-end-postings-with-trumps-return/|publisher=The Times of Israel|date=January 22, 2025}}</ref> | president = Joe Biden | predecessor = Henry T. Wooster | successor = James Holtsnider | office1 = Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs | president1 = Joe Biden | status1 = Acting | term_start1 = August 31, 2021 | term_end1 = May 31, 2022 | predecessor1 = Joey R. Hood | successor1 = Barbara A. Leaf | office2 = U.S. Chargé d'Affaires to the United Kingdom | president2 = Joe Biden | term_start2 = January 20, 2021 | term_end2 = August 1, 2021 | predecessor2 = Woody Johnson | successor2 = Philip T. Reeker (acting) | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1974|1|16}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | alma_mater = Georgetown University (BS) | spouse = {{marriage|Andrea Catalano di Melilli|2008}} | party = | awards = National Security Council Outstanding Service Award (2017) <br> Presidential Rank Award (2019)<ref name="US Embassy"/> }} '''Yael Lempert''' <ref name="Wedding">{{cite news|title=Yael Lempert, Andrea Catalano|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/fashion/weddings/09LEMPERT.html |work=The New York Times|date=November 7, 2008|access-date=15 March 2021}}</ref> (born January 16, 1974) is an American diplomat who served as the United States ambassador to Jordan from September 2023 to January 2025. Lempert is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, having served in various roles including Senior Director for the Levant, Israel, and Egypt at the National Security Council, and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in London. In 2023, she was nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the Senate to be the ambassador to Jordan.
==Early life and education== Lempert grew up in Ithaca, New York.<ref name=":0" /> She graduated from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.<ref name="Deputy">{{cite web|title=Yael Lempert Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Egypt and the Maghreb Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs|url=https://www.state.gov/biographies/yael-lempert/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131161145/https://www.state.gov/biographies/yael-lempert/|archive-date=31 January 2021|website=US Department of State|access-date=15 March 2021}}</ref> She is the daughter of ophthalmologist Philip Lempert and Lesley Lempert who serves on the board of the New York Civil Liberties Union.<ref name="Wedding"/> Lampert is Jewish.<ref>{{cite news |last= Deutch |first= Gabby |title= Meet Yael Lempert, the Jewish-American ambassador in Amman: Lempert's role involves communicating America's backing for Israel to a country with growing animosity towards the Jewish state |date= March 18, 2024 |newspaper=Jewish Insider |place= Washington, D.C. |url-access= subscription |url= https://jewishinsider.com/2024/03/yael-lempert-u-s-ambassador-to-jordan-amman/ |access-date= 25 April 2026}}</ref>
==Career== Lempert is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor. She is fluent in Arabic.<ref name=":0" /> She was Senior Director for the Levant, Israel, and Egypt at the National Security Council (NSC) from 2014 to 2017. She served as Special Assistant to the President from 2015 to 2017.
She was charged with "(heading) negotiations between the Netanyahu government and Obama administration over the military aid package, in addition to her work on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. The $38-billion deal, over 10 years, was the biggest the United States ever signed with any country."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Ravid |first1=Barak |last2=Tibon |first2=Amir |date=2017-03-24 |title=Why did Trump keep Obama's senior Israel adviser? Depends who you're asking |url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2017-03-24/ty-article/.premium/why-did-trump-keep-obamas-senior-israel-adviser/0000017f-e10b-df7c-a5ff-e37bb1ad0000 |access-date=2024-05-13 |work=Haaretz |language=en}}</ref>
Initially planning to return to the State Department after 20 years as a career diplomat, Lempert was asked to stay on for the transition and assembling of a new team in 2017 under Donald Trump. Trump officials thought that Lempert, with her "knowledge and experience", could help facilitate a deal between Israel and the Palestinians.<ref name="Ravid and Tibon">{{Cite web|last1=Ravid|first1=Barak|last2=Tibon|first2=Amir|date=March 24, 2017|title=Why did Trump keep Obama's senior Israel adviser? Depends who you're asking|url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2017-03-24/ty-article/.premium/why-did-trump-keep-obamas-senior-israel-adviser/0000017f-e10b-df7c-a5ff-e37bb1ad0000|website=Haaretz|language=en|access-date=April 21, 2021|quote=Lempert, 43, held the Israel portfolio on the National Security Council during Barack Obama’s last two years as president.}}</ref>
From June 1, 2017, until December 2018, Lempert served as acting deputy assistant secretary for Egypt and North Africa.<ref name="Deputy" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Yael Lempert Archives|url=https://uk.usembassy.gov/tag/yael-lempert/|website=U.S. Embassy & Consulates in the United Kingdom|language=en-US|access-date=March 9, 2021}}</ref>
Lempert served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in London from January 2019 to 2021, and as Chargé d'Affaires, a.i. from January 2021 through July 2021.<ref name="US Embassy">{{Cite web|title=Yael Lempert|url=https://uk.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/london/deputy-chief-of-mission/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318183425/https://uk.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/london/deputy-chief-of-mission/|archive-date=March 18, 2021|website=U.S. Embassy & Consulates in the United Kingdom|language=en-US|access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>
Lempert became the acting assistant secretary of the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs on August 31, 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Yael Lempert|url=https://www.state.gov/biographies/yael-lempert/|access-date=2021-09-29|website=United States Department of State|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210928164237/https://www.state.gov/biographies/yael-lempert/|archive-date=2021-09-28}}</ref>
===U.S. ambassador to Jordan=== On January 3, 2023, President Joe Biden nominated Lempert to be the ambassador to Jordan.<ref name="WHBio">{{cite web |title=President Biden Announces Key Nominees |url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/01/03/president-biden-announces-key-nominees-35/ |website=The White House |access-date=5 January 2023 |date=3 January 2023}}</ref> After hearings and a favorable report from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, her nomination was confirmed by the Senate on July 27, 2023.<ref>{{cite web |title=PN51 — Yael Lempert — Department of State 118th Congress (2023-2024) |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/118th-congress/51 |website=US Congress |access-date=5 January 2023}}</ref> She was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on August 9, 2023,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=National |first=The |date=2023-08-10 |title=New US ambassador to Jordan Yael Lempert sworn in |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/us-news/2023/08/10/new-us-ambassador-to-jordan-yael-lempert-sworn-in/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=The National |language=en}}</ref> and presented her credentials to King Abdullah II on September 3, 2023.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Ambassador Yael Lempert Presents Her Credentials to His Majesty King Abdullah II |date=2023-09-24 |publisher=U.S. Embassy in Jordan |url=https://jo.usembassy.gov/ambassador-yael-lempert-presents-her-credential-to-his-majesty-king-abdullah-ii/ |access-date=2023-10-23}}</ref>
==Personal life== Lempert married Italian diplomat Andrea Catalano di Melilli in 2008 at the Italian Embassy in Cairo.<ref name="Wedding"/> She speaks Arabic.<ref name="WHBio" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-dip}} {{s-bef|before=Henry T. Wooster}} {{s-ttl|title=United States Ambassador to Jordan|years=2023–2025}} {{s-aft|after=Peter Shea}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lempert, Yael}} Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:21st-century American diplomats Category:21st-century American women civil servants Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Jordan Category:Ambassadors of the United States to the United Kingdom Category:Assistant secretaries of state for Near Eastern affairs Category:Biden administration personnel Category:Diplomats from New York (state) Category:First Trump administration personnel Category:Obama administration personnel Category:United States Foreign Service personnel Category:Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Category:Women ambassadors of the United States Category:Jewish American diplomats