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World Jewish News
Netanyahu candidate Michael Oren tapped as U.S. envoy
05.05.2009
A university professor who advocates for Israel to unilaterally withdraw from the West Bank is set to be appointed the country's next ambassador to Washington.
Dr. Michael Oren, who is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's candidate for the position, received Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's endorsement over the weekend, following separate meetings with Netanyahu and Lieberman on Thursday.
The cabinet must now approve the appointment at its weekly meeting Sunday to set the decision in stone. Oren would then take up the position before Netanyahu's expected meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on May 18 or 19.
Oren, a visiting Georgetown University professor, said in a lecture there last month, "The only alternative for Israel to save itself as a Jewish state is by unilaterally withdrawing from the West Bank and evacuating most of the settlements."
He beat several high-profile candidates for the position, including ex-Likud MK Zalman Shoval, who served twice before as ambassador to the United States, Dr. Dore Gold, who served as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations from 1997 to 1999, and Alon Pinkas, who served as Consul General in New York from 2000 to 2004.
Oren received a Ph.D. in Near East studies from Princeton University in 1986. He has lectured as a visiting professor at several leading American
universities, including Harvard and Yale.
During Israel's January offensive against Palestinian militants in Gaza, Oren volunteered as a military liaison officer, briefing reporters outside Gaza.
Oren will replace Salai Meridor as Israel's top envoy in the U.S.
Oren has written several books, including a 2002 study of the 1967 Six-Day War, in which Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and Sinai desert, and a 2007 view of U.S. policy in the Middle East from 1776 to the present era called Power, Faith and Fantasy.
In his commentaries and appearances, Oren has expressed a wide variety of views. Netanyahu has resisted calls for a West Bank pullback, warning that Palestinian extremists could take over and endanger Israel.
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, and The Associated Press
Источник: Haaretz
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