Yechiel "Michael" Leiter (; born October 1, 1959) is an American-born Israeli historian of philosophy,

public policy analyst Policy analysis or public policy analysis is a technique used in the public administration sub-field of political science to enable civil servants, nonprofit organizations, and others to examine and evaluate the available options to implement the ...

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

and settlement activist. He is a resident scholar at the Herzl Institute in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. On January 27, 2025, he assumed the position of Israeli ambassador to the United States. He previously served as

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

at the Israeli

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

and as political assistant to

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon ( ; also known by his diminutive Arik, ; 26 February 192811 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestin ...

in the Israeli parliament. An ordained

, Leiter has written three books and numerous essays on the politics of the Middle East. He is affiliated with the Kohelet Policy Forum.

Early life and education

Yechiel Leiter was born on 1 October 1959 in

Scranton Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The newspaper ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

'' claimed that as a youth, Leiter was active in the

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

Jewish Defense League led by Rabbi Meir Kahane, and emigrated to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

together with other activists from that organization. He arrived in Israel in 1978 at the age of eighteen, served as a

combat medic A combat medic is responsible for providing emergency medicine, emergency medical treatment at a point of wounding in a combat or training environment, as well as primary care and health protection and evacuation from a point of injury or illnes ...

in the

Israeli Defense Forces Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

and participated in the

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization ...

. Leiter holds an undergraduate degree in

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, a Bachelor of Arts in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, a Master of Arts in

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

, and a PhD in

political philosophy Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and Political legitimacy, legitimacy of political institutions, such as State (polity), states. This field investigates different ...

from the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

. His doctoral thesis focuses on the influence of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thi ...

's theory of consensual government. He studied

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

over the course of eight years and subsequently taught Judaism at a number of centers for

higher learning Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

in Jerusalem.

Career

Leiter served as a

political advisor Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely televisi ...

to Knesset member

and in multiple senior government positions: first as deputy director general of the Israeli

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, where he helped plan a major overhaul of the educational system, and then as chief of staff to

in the Ministry of Finance, where he took an active role in economic reforms. Leiter subsequently became a senior policy analystYechiel Leiter
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs at the

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs The Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA), formerly the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), is an Israeli think tank specializing in public diplomacy and foreign policy founded in 1976. JCPA publishes the biennial jo ...

, where he directed and edited a

geopolitical Geopolitics () is the study of the effects of Earth's geography on politics and international relations. Geopolitics usually refers to countries and relations between them, it may also focus on two other kinds of states: ''de facto'' independen ...

blog. In that capacity, he was a frequent guest on Israeli

news program News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either video production, produced local programming ...

s and a contributor to such Israeli media outlets such as

YNet Ynet (stylized in all lowercase) is an Israeli news and general-content website, and the online outlet for the '' Yedioth Ahronoth'' newspaper. History Ynet launched on June 6, 2000, in Hebrew, following other Hebrew outlet's website launches ...

, ''

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'', or ''Arbit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening '' Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two ...

''- NRG, and '' Yisrael Hayom''. In 2008, Leiter ran as a candidate for election to the Knesset in the Likud Party's primaries. He has served as the chief executive officer of 3H Global, an international consultancy group specializing in aiding governments to formulate and implement policy. In 2011, he was elected chairman of Israel Ports Authority. In that capacity he was responsible for the planning of Israel's

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...

operations and the building of two new

deep-water port A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inla ...

s in

Ashdod Ashdod (, ; , , or ; Philistine language, Philistine: , romanized: *''ʾašdūd'') is the List of Israeli cities, sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District (Israel), Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean ...

and

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

. Leiter taught political philosophy in the law faculty at the Ono Academic College in

Kiryat Ono Kiryat Ono () is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel. It is located east of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Modern Kiryat Ono is adjacent to the biblical Ono, which was located in what is now the area of Or Yehuda. The city also ...

. He is strategic advisor to the Foundation for the Archaeological Exploration, Restoration and Expansion of Ancient Shiloh. Leiter has served as a member of the board of governors of the University of Judea and Samaria in Ariel and as a director on the National Committee for the Perpetuation of the Memory of

Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who was the father of Types of Zionism, modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organizat ...

. He serves on the board of directors of The Israel Experience, a subsidiary of the

Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

, which manages the " Taglit-Birthright" program in Israel. Leiter has authored three books and dozens of articles on

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

and Israeli politics and has lectured extensively to audiences throughout the United States, Canada, England, Australia, South Africa, and South America.

Personal life

For many years he resided in West Bank settlement

Eli Eli most commonly refers to: * Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname * Eli (biblical figure) Eli or ELI may also refer to: Film * ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film * ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film Music * ''Eli'' (Jan ...

with his wife and their eight children. In recent years he has lived in Alon Shevut. His son, Major (Res.) Moshe Yedidia Leiter, a medical graduate, served as a

platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

commander in the

Shaldag Unit Unit 5101, more commonly known as Shaldag (, '' Kingfisher''), is one of the premier Israeli Air Force (IAF) Sayeret units. The unit is part of the 7th Special Air Forces Wing and is based in the Palmachim Airbase. The unit is led by an officer ...

and was killed in the northern

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

in 2023 in the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

Bibliography

*''John Locke's Political Philosophy and the Hebrew Bible'', 2018,

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

* ''Aloh Naaleh'' - 'The Aliyah Imperative' (1988), in Hebrew * ''A Peace to Resist: Why the Rabin-Arafat Deal Must Be Stopped, and How It Can Be Done'' (1993)
/ref> * ''Crisis in Israel'' (1994)

* ''Israel at the cross-roads: The view from the hills of Judea and Samaria'' (1999)
/ref> * ''Between Despair and Hope: Public Perceptions of Educational Reform'' (2005) * ''Political Views from Above'' (2008), in Hebrew * ''The Political Hebraism of John Locke: A New-Old Reading of the Two Treatises of Government'' (2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leiter, Yechiel 1982 Lebanon War Academic staff of Ono Academic College Ambassadors of Israel to the United States American emigrants to Israel American Kahanists Ariel University Far-right politics in Israel Israeli civil servants Israeli historians Israeli political philosophers Israeli political scientists Israeli rabbis Israeli Kahanists Israeli settlers Likud politicians Living people Members of the Jewish Defense League People from Alon Shvut Rabbis in Hebron Scholars of modern philosophy University of Haifa alumni Writers from Scranton, Pennsylvania Year of birth missing (living people)