Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Ex-Envoy Michael Oren Enters Israeli Politics

Michael Oren, the former Israeli envoy to the United States, will run in Israel’s upcoming elections.

Oren was presented Wednesday as a candidate for the new political party Kulanu, headed by former Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon, who left the Likud Party in 2013. Kahlon said Oren would help retain good relations with Israel’s allies.

“Michael Oren is the right person to handle this responsibility. He proved that, even when there are disagreements, he can maintain close ties. Michael is the best in his field,” Kahlon said Wednesday in Tel Aviv.

“Israel is at a critical junction,” Oren said. “I couldn’t look from the side and do nothing when Israel is under diplomatic attack.”

Oren, a resident of Jerusalem, earlier this year called for a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.

He resigned as Israeli ambassador to Washington in July 2013. He is now teaching at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center in Israel and writing a book on his four years as ambassador in Washington. He is the author of the award-winning book “Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East.”

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.