{{Short description|Israeli historian and analyst and Israeli ambassador to the US}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Yechiel Leiter | native_name = {{No bold|{{Script/Hebrew|יחיאל לייטר}}}} | native_name_lang = he | image = File:Yechiel Leiter.jpg | office = [[List of Israeli ambassadors to the United States|Israeli Ambassador to the United States]] | term_start = January 27, 2025 | term_end = | prime_minister = {{plainlist|1= *[[Benjamin Netanyahu]]}} | predecessor = [[Michael Herzog (ambassador)|Michael Herzog]] | successor = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|10|1|mf=yes}} | birth_place = [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]], U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | party = [[Likud]] | citizenship = United States • Israel | spouse = | children = 8 | caption = Leiter in 2023 | other_party = | alma_mater = [[University of Haifa]] }}
'''Yechiel "Michael" Leiter''' ({{langx|he|יחיאל לייטר}}; born October 1, 1959) is an American-born Israeli historian of philosophy, [[public policy analyst]], [[rabbi]] and [[Israeli settlements|settlement]] activist.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Netanyahu taps former official, settlement activist Yechiel Leiter as next US ambassador {{!}} The Times of Israel |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-taps-former-official-settlement-activist-yechiel-leiter-as-next-us-ambassador/amp/ |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=www.timesofisrael.com}}</ref> He is a resident scholar at the [[Herzl Museum|Herzl Institute]] in [[Jerusalem]].<ref>[http://www.herzlinstitute.org Yechiel Leiter], herzlinstitute.org</ref> On January 27, 2025, he assumed the position of [[List of ambassadors of Israel to the United States|Israeli ambassador to the United States]].<ref name=TOI>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/yechiel-leiter-takes-up-post-as-new-ambassador-to-us/|title=Yechiel Leiter takes up post as new ambassador to US|publisher= [[The Times of Israel]]|date=January 27, 2025|first=Jacob |last=Magid}}</ref> He previously served as [[chief of staff]] to [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] at the Israeli [[Ministry of Finance]] and as political assistant{{vague|date=August 2024}} to [[Ariel Sharon]] in the [[Israeli parliament]]. An ordained [[rabbi]], Leiter has written three books and numerous essays on the [[Middle Eastern politics |politics of the Middle East]].<ref name= jcpa/> He is affiliated with the [[Kohelet Policy Forum]].<ref name= Far>{{cite news |author= Amir Tibon |author2= Ben Samuels |title= Netanyahu Appoints Yechiel Leiter as Israel's Ambassador to U.S. Hardline Settler, Ex-member of Far-right Kahanist Group |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |date= 8 November 2024 |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-11-08/ty-article/.premium/netanyahu-picks-yechiel-leiter-as-ambassador-to-u-s-settler-ex-member-of-kahanist-group/00000193-0c1a-d3a2-a3d7-4f5b295d0000 |access-date= 8 November 2024}}</ref><ref name=mishpacha>{{Cite news| title=Ready Willing and Able|newspaper=|date=| url=https://mishpacha.com/ready-willing-and-able/| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250414170014/https://mishpacha.com/ready-willing-and-able/| url-status=dead| archive-date=2025-04-14|access-date=|website=mishpacha.com}}</ref> <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121007083445/https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terror Terrorism 2000/2001. U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Accessed April 11, 2026.]</ref>
==Early life and education== Yechiel Leiter was born on 1 October 1959 in [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yechiel Leiter |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/yechiel-leiter |access-date=2025-06-28 |website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref> He studied two years at [[Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim]] in [[Queens]], [[New York (state)|New York]].{{r|mishpacha}}<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121007083445/https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terror Terrorism 2000/2001. U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Accessed April 11, 2026.]</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Soffer-Roth|first=Natasha|title=How Kahanism found its way into the Israeli political mainstream|url=https://www.972mag.com/kahanism-israeli-politics-likud/|date=May 14, 2025|website=+972 Magazine|language=EN|access-date=April 7, 2026}}</ref> he made ''[[aliyah]]'' to Israel in 1978 at the age of eighteen, where he studied at [[Hesder|Yeshivat Hesder]] in [[Kiryat Arba]] in advance of his military service.<ref name=Mishpacha>Rose, Binyamin [https://mishpacha.com/ready-willing-and-able/ "Ready, Willing, and Able"], ''[[Mishpacha]]'', April 8, 2025. Accessed February 27, 2026. "Leiter left Scranton to further his Torah education at Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim in New York for two years. At age 18, he realized his boyhood dream of making aliyah and enrolled in a Hesder yeshivah in Kiryat Arba and served in the IDF."</ref> He served as a [[combat medic]] in the [[Israel Defense Forces]] and participated in the [[1982 Lebanon War]].<ref>[https://www.thejc.com/news/world/israels-us-ambassador-saudi-normalisation-xyz5dgkb Israel’s new US ambassador suggests Saudi normalisation on the brink]</ref> According to [[+972 Magazine]], he afterwards joined the ultranationalist [[Kach]] party.<ref>{{cite news|last=Soffer-Roth|first=Natasha|title=How Kahanism found its way into the Israeli political mainstream|url=https://www.972mag.com/kahanism-israeli-politics-likud/|date=May 14, 2025|website=+972 Magazine|language=EN|access-date=April 7, 2026}}</ref> He served as chairman of the Committee of the Jewish Community of [[Hebron]] from 1989 to 1992, and later lived in the [[Israeli settlement|settlement]] of [[Alon Shvut]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Israel’s US envoy says settler violence a ‘stain’ costing the nation friends|newspaper=The Times of Israel|date=25 March 2026|access-date=15 April 2026|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-us-envoy-says-settler-violence-a-stain-costing-the-nation-friends/}}</ref>
Leiter holds an undergraduate degree in [[legal studies |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]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kempinski |first=Yoni |title=Dr. Yechiel Leiter to be Israel's next Ambassador to the US |url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/398850 |access-date=2025-06-28 |website=Israel National News |language=en}}</ref> His doctoral thesis focuses on the influence of the [[Hebrew Bible]] on [[John Locke]]'s theory of consensual government.<ref>Leiter, Yechiel. [https://assets.cambridge.org/97811084/28187/frontmatter/9781108428187_frontmatter.pdf "John Locke’s Political Philosophy and the Hebrew Bible"], [[Cambridge University Press]]. Accessed February 27, 2026.</ref> He received ''[[semikhah]]'' as a [[rabbi]] in 1984.<ref>[https://www.davar1.co.il/556633/ ד"ר יחיאל לייטר מונה לתפקיד שגריר ישראל בארה"ב]</ref>
==Career== {{more references|section|date=August 2024}} Leiter served as a [[political advisor]] to Knesset member [[Ariel Sharon]] and in multiple senior government positions: first as deputy director general of the Israeli [[Ministry of Education]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.davar1.co.il/556633/|title=Dr Yechiel Leiter appointed Israel Ambassador to the United States|language=HE|date=8 November 2024}}</ref> where he helped plan a major overhaul of the educational system, and then as chief of staff to [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] in the Ministry of Finance, where he took an active role in economic reforms.{{clarify|date=August 2024}}
Leiter subsequently became a senior [[policy analyst]]<ref name="jcpa">[http://jcpa.org/researcher/yechiel-leiter/ Yechiel Leiter], Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs</ref> at the [[Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs]], where he directed and edited a [[geopolitical]] blog. In that capacity, he was a frequent guest on Israeli [[news program]]s and a contributor to such Israeli media outlets such as [[YNet]], ''[[Maariv (newspaper)|Maariv]]''-[[NRG360|NRG]], and ''[[Yisrael Hayom]]''.
In 2008, Leiter ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for election to the Knesset in the [[Likud Party]]'s primaries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128612#.UU1cczfc84c|title=Likud Candidate From Samaria: 'Annex Regions in Yesha'|publisher=israelnationalnews.com}}</ref>
He has served as the chief executive officer of [[3H Global]],<ref>[http://www.3hge.com Dr Yechiel (Michael) Leiter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224113411/http://www.3hge.com/ |date=24 February 2014 }}, 3hge.com</ref> an international consultancy group specializing in aiding governments to formulate and implement policy.
In 2010, Leiter was a candidate for the position of Chairman of [[Israel Broadcasting Authority]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Kam|first=Anat|title=Operation Yonatan?|url=https://b.walla.co.il/item/1646092|date=22 February 2010|website=Walla|language=HE}}</ref>
He served as the advisor and chief strategist of [[Horacio Cartes]], President of [[Paraguay]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.walla.co.il/item/3047134|title=בסיוע איש סודו של נתניהו: כך התפתח הקשר החם בין ישראל לפרגוואי| last=Shalev|first=Tal|date=13 March 2017|website=Walla|language=HE}}</ref> In 2015, Leiter founded Versta.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2307628/|last=Mizrahi|first=Nissim|title= פה אחד: הממשלה אישרה את מינויו של לייטר לשגריר בארה”ב| website= JDN|date=24 November 2024|language=HE}}</ref> Between 2015-2023, he was the director of The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, initiated the Red Sea dialogue with Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was a researcher in the Shilo Forum, and led initiatives to combat BDS.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/hyutodjbye|last=Reichner|first=Itamar|title= יחיאל לייטר, תושב גוש עציון ששכל את בנו במלחמה, יהיה השגריר בארה"ב|date=8 November 2024|website=Ynet|language=HE}}</ref> He was also the strategic advisor for the Presidential race in [[Liberia]] which resulted in the candidate's victory.<ref>{{cite news|title="יש לישראל ידידה במערב אפריקה": חיבוק מליבריה לאב השכול|url=https://www.israelhayom.co.il/news/local/article/15182299|date=29 January 2024|last=Kahana|first=Ariel|website=HaYom|language=HE}}</ref>
In 2011, he was elected chairman of [[Israel Ports Authority]], where he was responsible for the planning of Israel's [[seaport]] operations and the building of two new [[deep-water port]]s in [[Ashdod]] and [[Haifa]].<ref>Delfino, Jessica. [https://www.citizensvoice.com/2024/11/08/scranton-born-man-will-serve-as-israels-ambassador-to-u-s/ "Scranton-born man will serve as Israel’s ambassador to U.S."], ''[[The Citizens' Voice]]'', November 8, 2024. Accessed February 27, 2026. "Dr. Yechiel Leiter, 65, was appointed Friday to the ambassador role by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Leiter previously served as deputy director general of the Education Ministry, chief of staff for the Finance Ministry and acting chairman of the Israel Ports Company."</ref>
Leiter taught political philosophy in the law faculty at the [[Ono Academic College]] in [[Kiryat Ono]]. He is strategic advisor to the Foundation for the Archaeological Exploration, Restoration and Expansion of Ancient [[Shiloh (biblical city)|Shiloh]].
Leiter has served as a member of the board of governors of the [[Ariel University |University of Judea and Samaria]] in [[Ariel (Israeli settlement)|Ariel]] and as a director on the National Committee for the Perpetuation of the Memory of [[Theodor Herzl]]. He serves on the board of directors of The Israel Experience, a subsidiary of the [[Jewish Agency for Israel]], which manages the "[[Taglit-Birthright]]" program in Israel.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
Leiter is a senior fellow at the [[Kohelet Policy Forum]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/moving-coexistence-towards-success-592857|title=Moving coexistence towards success|website=The Jerusalem Post|date=22 June 2019}}</ref>
===20th Ambassador of Israel to the United States=== In January 2025, Leiter became the 20th [[List of ambassadors of Israel to the United States|Israeli ambassador to the United States]], assuming the position following the departure of [[Michael Herzog (ambassador)|Michael Herzog]] from that role.<ref name=TOI/>
After the [[2025 Capital Jewish Museum shooting|Capital Jewish Museum shooting]] in May 2025, in which two Israeli Embassy staffers were shot dead by a perpetrator who shouted "Free, free, Palestine" after being detained in police custody, Leiter described the murders as the eighth front in Israel's war, what he called "The war to demonize, delegitimize and to eradicate the right of the state of Israel to exist".<ref>Mackinnon, Amy. [https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/22/israeli-ambassador-staff-killings-war-00366058 "Israeli ambassador casts staff killings as part of wider Middle East war"], ''[[Politico]]'', May 22, 2025. Accessed February 27, 2026. "Israel’s ambassador to the United States cast the killing of two of his country’s staffers in Washington as part of the Jewish state’s multifront war in the Middle East against Iran and its proxies.... “The state of Israel is now fighting a war on seven fronts. This is the eighth front. The war to demonize, delegitimize and to eradicate the right of the state of Israel to exist,' Leiter said. The Israeli ambassador spoke to the press on Thursday outside the Capital Jewish Museum where Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were shot dead on Wednesday evening as they left an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee."</ref>
==Personal life== He moved in 1992 to [[Eli (Israeli settlement)|Eli]], a settlement in [[the West Bank]], with his wife and their eight children.<ref name=Mishpacha/> In recent years he has lived in [[Alon Shvut|Alon Shevut]]. His son, Major (Res.) Moshe Yedidia Leiter, a medical student, served as a [[platoon]] commander in the [[Shaldag Unit]] and was killed in the northern [[Gaza Strip]] in 2023 in the [[Gaza war]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=זיתון |first=יואב |last2=חדד |first2=תמר טרבלסי |last3=קימון |first3=אלישע בן |date=2023-11-11 |title=אסון בבית חאנון: קצין ו-3 לוחמים נהרגו מפיר ממולכד ליד מסגד, 4 נפצעו קשה |language=he |work=Ynet |url=https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/h1gbuet7t |access-date=2023-11-11}}</ref><ref>[https://www.timesofisrael.com/maj-res-moshe-leiter-39-father-of-6-training-to-be-a-doctor/ Maj. (res.) Moshe Leiter, 39: Father of 6 training to be a doctor]</ref>
Leiter has authored three books and dozens of articles on [[Zionism]] and [[Israeli politics]] and has lectured extensively to audiences throughout the United States, Canada, England, Australia, South Africa, and South America.
==Bibliography== * ''Aloh Naaleh'' - 'The Aliyah Imperative' (1988), in Hebrew<ref name= Leiter1988>{{cite book|last=Leiter|first=Yechiel M.|author-link=Yechiel Leiter|title=עלה נעלה|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8S_HOAAACAAJ|year=1988|publisher=מחדשי היישוב היהודי בחברון|page=226}}</ref> * ''A Peace to Resist: Why the Rabin-Arafat Deal Must Be Stopped, and How It Can Be Done'' (1993)<ref name="Leiter1993">{{cite book |last=Leiter |first=Yechiel M. |author-link=Yechiel Leiter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KhfRGwAACAAJ |title=A Peace to Resist: Why the Rabin-Arafat Deal Must Be Stopped, and How It Can Be Done |publisher=Yesha Council Foreign Desk ; New York |year=1994 |page=65}} [https://www.amazon.com/Peace-Resist-Rabin-Arafat-Stopped/dp/B0056FPJ2I]</ref> * ''Crisis in Israel'' (1994)<ref name="Leiter1994">{{cite book |last=Leiter |first=Yechiel |author-link=Yechiel Leiter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rija4NqQj-sC |title=Crisis in Israel |publisher=SP Books |year=1994 |isbn=1561713384 |page=224}} ([https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1561713384])</ref> * ''Israel at the cross-roads: The view from the hills of Judea and Samaria'' (1999)<ref name="Leiter1999">{{cite book |last=Leiter |first=Yechiel M. |author-link=Yechiel Leiter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BLBUGwAACAAJ |title=Israel at the Cross-roads: The View from the Hills of Judea and Samaria |publisher=One Israel Fund |year=1999 |page=133}} [https://www.amazon.com/s?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Yechiel+Leiter&x=0&y=0]</ref> * ''Between Despair and Hope: Public Perceptions of Educational Reform'' (2005) * ''Political Views from Above'' (2008), in Hebrew * ''The Political Hebraism of John Locke: A New-Old Reading of the Two Treatises of Government'' (2008)<ref name= Leiter2008>{{cite web|url=http://jcpa.org/article/the-hebraic-roots-of-john-lockes-doctrine-of-charity/|title=The Hebraic Roots of John Locke's Doctrine of Charity|last=Yechiel Leiter|date=Fall 2008|publisher=Jewish Political Studies Review 20:3-4|access-date=3 May 2015}}</ref> *''John Locke's Political Philosophy and the Hebrew Bible'', 2018, [[Cambridge University Press]]<ref name= NuovoReview>{{cite journal |last1=Nuovo |first1=Victor |title=John Locke's Political Philosophy and the Hebrew Bible (book review) |journal=Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews |date=3 September 2018 |url=https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/john-lockes-political-philosophy-and-the-hebrew-bible/ |access-date=4 October 2018}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Leiter, Yechiel}} [[Category:1982 Lebanon War]] [[Category:Academic staff of Ono Academic College]] [[Category:Ambassadors of Israel to the United States]] [[Category:American emigrants to Israel]] [[Category:Ariel University]] [[Category:Far-right politics in Israel]] [[Category:Israeli civil servants]] [[Category:Israeli historians]] [[Category:Israeli political philosophers]] [[Category:Israeli political scientists]] [[Category:Israeli rabbis]] [[Category:Likud politicians]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Alon Shvut]] [[Category:Politicians from Scranton, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Rabbis in Hebron]] [[Category:Scholars of modern philosophy]] [[Category:University of Haifa alumni]] [[Category:Writers from Scranton, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:American expatriates in Israel]]