Netanyahu’s Diplomatic Envoy Resigns
Yitzhak Molcho served as Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal envoy to peace talks with the Palestinians. Image by getty images
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s diplomatic envoy, attorney Yitzhak Molcho, has resigned.
Molcho served as Netanyahu’s diplomatic envoy during his first term as prime minister in 1996-99 and again since Netanyahu returned to office in 2009. He served as an Israeli negotiator during the 2013-14 Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
He will leave his position in February in order to give the prime minister time to find a replacement. Molcho had requested to be relieved of his voluntary position a year ago, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office issued Wednesday.
In a letter to Molcho thanking him for his service, Netanyahu wrote: “I need not enumerate the sensitive and important diplomatic missions that you have carried out. You did so with a rare combination of ability, experience and a deep and comprehensive knowledge of the issues. The time has not yet come to reveal all of your activities but I am certain that when that time does come, the citizens of Israel will greatly appreciate your contribution.”
Former Foreign Ministry director-general and Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Dore Gold is reported to be Molcho’s likely successor. Gold is currently president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs think tank.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Dive In
-
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
-
Fast Forward Yarden Bibas says ‘I am here because of Trump’ and pleads with him to stop the Gaza war
-
Fast Forward Trump’s plan to enlist Elon Musk began at Lubavitcher Rebbe’s grave
-
Fast Forward Katrina Armstrong steps down as Columbia president after White House pressure over antisemitism
Most Popular
- 1
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 2
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 3
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
- 4
Opinion Mike Huckabee said there’s ‘no such thing as a Palestinian.’ It’s worth thinking about what that means
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
-
Fast Forward Yarden Bibas says ‘I am here because of Trump’ and pleads with him to stop the Gaza war
-
Fast Forward Trump’s plan to enlist Elon Musk began at Lubavitcher Rebbe’s grave
-
Film & TV In this Jewish family, everybody needs therapy — especially the therapists themselves
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
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 comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag 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.