Yechiel (Michael) Leiter

Yechiel Leiter combined government service with the study of political philosophy before becoming ambassador. He advised Ariel Sharon, served as a deputy director-general in the education ministry from 2001 to 2004, and became chief of staff to Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2004–05. He also served as acting chairman of the Israel Ports Company. His education included law and political science, international relations at the Catholic University of America in Washington, and a doctorate in political philosophy at the University of Haifa. ¹

His scholarly work included John Locke's Political Philosophy and the Hebrew Bible, published by Cambridge University Press in 2018. His later public life was affected by the death of his son Moshe Yedidya, a physician and Israeli special forces officer, in Gaza on November 10, 2023. Leiter assumed the Washington ambassadorship on January 27, 2025, succeeding Michael Herzog. ^{2, 3, 1}