American immigrant, former member of Meir Kahane's Jewish Defense League, West Bank annexation supporter, senior fellow at Kohelet Policy Forum and first-time diplomat. The pick signals Netanyahu's intention to align with Israel's settler movement in collaboration with the incoming Trump administration

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed Yechiel Leiter as Israel's ambassador to the U.S. Leiter, who will be replacing ambassador Michael Herzog, is considered close to Netanyahu and previously served as his chief of staff.

Leiter was born in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel four decades ago. He has been actively involved in supporting Jewish settlements in the West Bank, particularly in Hebron, currently lives in the settlement of Eli. His son Moshe was killed in combat in northern Gaza during the war, about a year ago.

"Yechiel Leiter is a talented diplomat, an articulate speaker, and has a deep understanding of American culture and politics. I am convinced he will represent the State of Israel in the best way, and wish him luck in his new role," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

The post of ambassador to the U.S. is Leiter's first diplomatic job, after working for decades writing and researching at right-wing Israeli and American research institutes, including the Shalem Institute and Herzl Institute. He also served as a senior fellow at the Kohelet Policy forum, the organization that promoted legislation in 2023 aimed at weakening Israel's judiciary.

In his youth, Leiter was active in the Jewish Defense League, an organization founded in the U.S. by Rabbi Meir Kahane and later designated as a terrorist organization by U.S. authorities. He was part of a group of activists within the organization who eventually moved to live in settlements in the West Bank.

Leiter also knew Baruch Goldstein, another U.S. immigrant involved in JDL activities. In 1994, following the massacre carried out by Goldstein at the Cave of the Patriarchs, Leiter gave an interview to a Jewish-American newspaper describing Goldstein as "very close to Rabbi Kahane and regarded him as his rabbi." He mentioned having known Goldstein for a decade, during which they both lived in settlements in the Hebron area.

In the 1990s, he was an activist in the public campaign against the Oslo Accords. In 2020, he published an article advocating for the annexation of the West Bank by Israel. In 2023, three months before the Hamas attack on the Gaza border communities, he published an article on a right-wing Jewish website urging the Israeli government to bring about the collapse and dismantling of the Palestinian Authority, even if doing so would trigger a security crisis in the West Bank.

Another article by Leiter, also published on the Jewish News Syndicate website in 2023, discussed the warming relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and the possibility of a normalization agreement between the two countries. He wrote that Saudi demands regarding the Palestinians during the negotiations were relatively modest and did not include an explicit call for the establishment of a Palestinian state. However, over the past year, amid the war in Gaza, Saudi Arabia's stance has hardened, with the kingdom consistently emphasizing that any agreement with Israel must include tangible progress toward a two-state solution.

Leiter is considered close to right-wing Jewish circles, including David Friedman, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Israel during the Trump administration and is seeking a significant role in a potential second Trump administration. Leiter's appointment signals Netanyahu's intent to advance a policy aligned with Israel's settler movement in coordination with the incoming Trump administration, including annexation of the West Bank. This approach could complicate the president-elect's efforts to broker a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Les survivants et les administrateurs de l'hôpital ont raconté qu'à quatre reprises au moins, des drones ou des tireurs d'élite israéliens ont tué ou gravement blessé des Palestiniens qui tentaient d'entrer dans l'hôpital. Deux femmes sur le point d'accoucher ont été abattues et se sont vidées de leur sang dans la rue, selon le personnel. Salha, l'administrateur, a vu les tirs tuer sa cousine, Souma, et son fils de 6 ans alors qu'elle amenait l'enfant pour qu'il soit soigné.

Dov Lior est considéré comme l'un des rabbins les plus importants du mouvement sioniste-religieux. Quand il entre dans une synagogue de ce mouvement, peu importe où, les fidèles se lèvent par respect. Les rabbins libéraux modérés du sionisme religieux sont impressionnés par sa grandeur dans la Torah et font une distinction absolue entre l'homme et ce qu'il dit. Il a affirmé que Baruch Goldstein [qui a massacré 29 fidèles musulmans à Hébron en 1994] est aussi saint que les personnes saintes qui ont été tuées dans l'Holocauste nazi.

Il a donné son approbation au livre "La Torah du Roi" [des rabbins Yitzhak Shapira et Yosef Elitzur], qui sanctionne explicitement le meurtre d'enfants et de nourrissons [non-juifs].

Non seulement cela, mais ils écrivent dans une note de bas de page que nous leur rendons service en les tuant quand ils sont petits, en les empêchant d'être aussi mauvais que leurs parents en grandissant. La dernière note de bas de page du livre dit qu'on n'a pas besoin de la décision d'une nation pour verser le sang des ennemis, que les individus aussi peuvent se venger. De nombreuses yeshivas ont ce livre dans leur bibliothèque. Un article écrit par le rabbin Elitzur contient des instructions opérationnelles précises : Les femmes bloqueront les routes et les hommes entreront dans les villages et frapperont les biens et les personnes. Les bases des Forces de défense israéliennes peuvent aussi être attaquées.

Le Shin Bet le soupçonne d'être un des commandants des actions terroristes déjouées visant à exploser le Dôme du Rocher et la mosquée d'Al Aqsa (un projet des messianistes pour y construire un 3ème temple à la place). Proche des monarchistes de l'Institut du Temple, de Kahane, de la dynastie ultra orthodoxe Yosef et le parti Shas, du ministre de l'éducation, et même de Netanyahu. Il est fondateur de l'ONG Komemiyut :

Contrairement à Regavim, qui présente un visage plus "diplomatique" des groupes d'extrême droite favorables à l'implantation, Komemiyut déclare ouvertement que sa mission est de "renforcer la droiture juive en tant qu'idée nationale centrale dans l'État d'Israël, de consolider l'implantation juive et de contrecarrer les intentions d'expulsion des Juifs". Il soutient également la création d'un État halachique (loi talmudique), rejetant un État juif fondé sur une loi laïque.

Parmi les rabbins de ce mouvement figurent Dov Lior, rabbin de Kiryat Arba (la plus grande colonie juive d'Hébron) et Rabbi Haim Yerucham Smotrich, de Beit Yatir (colonie juive dans les collines du sud d'Hébron), qui est le père de Bezalel Smotrich.

Il déclare après les attentats du 13 novembre à Paris qu'il s'agit d'une punition pour le traitement des juifs pendant l'holocauste.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-rabbi-dov-lior-killing-innocent-palestinians

https://web.archive.org/web/20080825032647/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/126721

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2017-07-15/ty-article-magazine/.premium/judaism-is-not-a-murderous-religion/0000017f-e3c6-d568-ad7f-f3ef48340000

https://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/2015-08-19/ty-article-opinion/.premium/0000017f-e787-df2c-a1ff-ffd7cc0b0000

https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2022-11-14/ty-article-opinion/.premium/as-netanyahu-seeks-to-skirt-justice-his-messianic-partners-get-busy/00000184-75d0-d201-a1d7-7dfe3ed50000