Israel Envoy Picks Orthodox Educator Close To Ivanka Trump As Chief Of Staff

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By Nathan Guttman April 4, 2017

David Friedman, sworn in last week as the new U.S. ambassador to Israel, has made his first staff pick, an assistant who also has an unorthodox background for a diplomatic job.

Michael Wilner reports in the Jerusalem Post that Friedman’s pick for his chief of staff is Aryeh Lightstone, an Orthodox educator, who is also close to Ivanka Trump.

Lightstone, according to the report, has won awards for his Jewish educational initiatives in the New York area and most recently served as chief creative officer of Mekorot Education, an online Jewish education resource.

It is not unusual for U.S. ambassadors to appoint top assistants from outside the State Department. Neither Friedman nor Lightstone will come to the post with any previous experience in government or in foreign policy.

Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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