World

Mr. Ambassador

Obama adviser expected to be named
envoy to Israel.

Adam Kredo
Washington Jewish Week

Washington

W

hen Middle East peace envoy
George Mitchell sat down for
an interview before a crowd
of nearly 1,000 last year, the moderator,
New York Times columnist David Brooks,
wondered why the political heavyweight
had agreed to openly discuss a matter as
sensitive as his diplomatic efforts.
"Dan Shapiro told me to come Mitchell
told Brooks and the standing room only
crowd in Washington's Sixth and I Historic
Synagogue. "When he gave me the order, I
saluted:'
Such is the stature of Shapiro, 41, the
National Security Council's senior director

critic of Dan',' said Steven
Rosen, director of the
Middle East Forum's
Washington project. He's
one of the [administra-
tion's] insiders and people
like him."
Shapiro has earned
plaudits from White House
officials, leaders of the
Dan Shapiro
American Jewish com-
munal world and others
for his sharp understanding of a complex
and rapidly evolving region. Experts say
his nuanced take on the Middle East will
make him a vital asset not only to the
White House, but also the Israeli Prime
Minister's Office.
"Shapiro is from the Jewish community;
he is a committed Jew and makes no secret
about it',' said Rosen, a former top offi-
cial at the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee. "The key Israelis already know
him and he's going to have a very easy time
walking into the Prime Minister's Office
and being taken seriously"
With a nonfunctional peace process
amplifying tensions between the U.S. and
Israel, Shapiro is viewed as a reassur-

((

for the Middle East and North Africa. He
has long been regarded as one of President
Obama's most trusted Middle East confi-
dants.
In the coming weeks, though, Shapiro is
expected to emerge from behind the for-
eign policy curtain as the administration's
new public face in Israel.
According to numerous reports, Shapiro
soon will be selected to succeed James
Cunningham as the U.S. ambassador to
Israel, though it is unclear when he will
formally be nominated.
Shapiro, a Washington resident and
prominent member of the local Jewish
community, is expected to shine as a
diplomat, say numerous foreign policy
experts and Jewish communal officials
across the partisan spectrum.
"You won't meet anyone who's a harsh

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26

March 10 m 2011

ing pick, said Kenneth
Weinstein, chief execu-
tive officer of the Hudson
Institute, a nonpartisan
think tank.
"This is someone who
has played a key role in the
relationship and, frankly,
improving the relationship
[between Washington and
Israel] over the past year:'
said Weinstein.
Shapiro was "the best person for the
job:' offered former Rep. Robert Wexler
(D-Fla.), who himself was rumored to be
in the running for the ambassadorship.
"He has been a centerpiece in every
initiative and decision the administration
has made since day one said Wexler.
Some of those decisions, however, have
cost the White House some of its pro-
Israel clout.
Since taking office, the Obama adminis-
tration repeatedly has encountered turbu-
lence in its dealings with the Israelis and
has taken flak from the American pro-
Israel community for, among other things,
pressuring the Jewish state to halt settle-
ment construction, including in Jerusalem.
"The administration's policy has not
produced the outcome it's wanted, and
it's widely understood that the unusual
approach they began with backfired,"
said Josh Block, a senior fellow at the
Progressive Policy Institute.
Yet somehow, Shapiro is seen as being
separate from the administration's most
controversial policies toward Israel,
despite having been a central presence in
Team Obama from the early days and a
chief architect of its Middle East outlook.
He has escaped unscathed, observers
say, because even the administration's
sharpest pro-Israel critics see Shapiro as
someone who genuinely cares about the
Jewish state.
"As our ambassador, Dan is the kind of
guy who can play a lead role in enlarging
what is already our most important rela-
tionship in the Middle East': said Block.
"An asset he brings is his clear com-
mitment to Israel's security and survival,"
added former Rep. Mel Levine (D-Calif.),
who worked with Shapiro while cam-
paigning for Obama. "It's a part of his
persona that is unmistakable."
Key players in both Israel and America
"don't think he has an ideological agenda,"
said Rosen.
"The root of it:' said David Harris, presi-
dent of the National Jewish Democratic
Council, "is that Dan is profoundly a
mentsh."
When his family relocates to Tel Aviv,
Shapiro is expected to bring newfound
attention to what in recent years has been
a relatively low-impact diplomatic post. LI