Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks during a press conference on the coronavirus, March 4, 2020 in Los Angeles. Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Joe Biden nominated Los Angeles’ Jewish mayor, Eric Garcetti, to be his ambassador to India.

The White House in announcing the nomination on Friday emphasized Garcetti’s bona fides in leading an international city. “As mayor, Garcetti oversees the busiest container port in the Western Hemisphere, the largest municipal utility in the country, and one of the busiest airports in the world,” the announcement said. “Garcetti co-founded Climate Mayors and led more than 400 U.S. mayors to adopt the Paris Climate agreement.”

Garcetti, 50, whose mother is Jewish and who was raised Jewish, was a co-chairman of Biden’s presidential campaign and helped select his running mate, Kamala Harris.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

He said last December he would not seek a post in the Biden administration, saying he was needed in Los Angeles to lead it through the coronavirus pandemic and the unrest that engulfed American cities after a Minneapolis policeman murdered Geroeg Floyd in May 2020.

Garcetti, whose term was due to end in December 2022, told The Los Angeles Times that his skills would be put to good use in India.

“We can’t get our climate goals without India hitting its climate goals,” he told the newspaper. “We can’t see the economy truly reopened to international commerce and tourism until COVID is under control. We’re all very closely connected.”

A network of city mayors Garcetti leads, C 40 Cities, has taken on two of the country’s most pressing problems, meeting climate change challenges, and a resurgence of the COVID virus.

Garcetti is Los Angeles’ first Jewish mayor since 1878.

The post Biden taps Eric Garcetti to be envoy to India appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

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. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount