Previously he held various positions, including in the Israeli administration, notably as head of the port authority.
His son, Moshe Leiter, an Israeli army officer, was killed in November 2023 in the Gaza Strip where the Israeli army has been at war against Hamas since the unprecedented attack by the Islamist movement in Israel, ago more than a year.
He succeeds Mike Herzog, the brother of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who was appointed in 2021.
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Mr. Leiter is due to take office in Washington after the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Very critical of the policy of the administration of outgoing President Joe Biden, he denounced in January on the private internet channel Tov the “American pressures” with regard to Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza.
For his part, Donald Trump recently announced the appointment as ambassador to Israel of evangelical Christian pastor Mike Huckabee, a former governor who sees biblical reasons to defend Israel.
