The new Israeli government has appointed Michael Oren as its new ambassador to the United States. It's a home run appointment. (Soccer Dad is also approving.) One assumes his ability to talk to our government, but it is his ability to communicate directly to the American public that will prove his greatest asset. It's the sort of fluency and articulateness that Israeli PR has been lacking since, well, since Bibi was here.
Oren is a fellow at the Shalem Center, and has a deep knowledge of both contemporary Middle East history and the long US involvement in the region, dating from our inception in the 18th Century, having written serious books on both - Six Days of War; and Power, Faith, and Fantasy. His writing for Azure reveals a thinker, informed by historical documents more than ideology.
Merely having such knowledge probably wouldn't be of much help with an administration that seems both ignorant and apathetic about history. But he's also demonstrated an understanding of current politics and policies. Oren knows what mischief Jimmy Carter is up to, and has written with caution about the prospects of talking to Iran. Oren also fought in the recent Gaza incursion; to the extent that this administration is willing to listen, he can speak from experience they wouldn't have seen on CNN or Al Jazeera. (Listen to his contemporaneous interview with Hugh Hewitt here.)
Oren is a fellow at the Shalem Center, and has a deep knowledge of both contemporary Middle East history and the long US involvement in the region, dating from our inception in the 18th Century, having written serious books on both - Six Days of War; and Power, Faith, and Fantasy. His writing for Azure reveals a thinker, informed by historical documents more than ideology.
Merely having such knowledge probably wouldn't be of much help with an administration that seems both ignorant and apathetic about history. But he's also demonstrated an understanding of current politics and policies. Oren knows what mischief Jimmy Carter is up to, and has written with caution about the prospects of talking to Iran. Oren also fought in the recent Gaza incursion; to the extent that this administration is willing to listen, he can speak from experience they wouldn't have seen on CNN or Al Jazeera. (Listen to his contemporaneous interview with Hugh Hewitt here.)