Posted on 09/18/2005 2:02:37 PM PDT by SJackson
Hours after US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer left Israel and his job, incoming US Ambassador Richard Jones touched down in Israel Sunday afternoon and headed straight to the Foreign Ministry and immediately presented a copy of his credentials.
Though the fast turnaround was prompted largely by the need to coordinate the logistics of his arrival with Israel, Jones is known as a quick thinker and problem solver.
Both skills will come in handy as he arrives in the country at a politically sensitive time, just weeks after Israel completed its historic withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.
"We hope we will see peace during your tenure," Israel's chief of protocol, Yitzhak Eldan, told Jones upon his arrival.
But Jones hasn't built his diplomatic career on presiding over calm regions.
He served as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's senior advisor on Iraq before being nominated for the Tel Aviv posting.
He has also served as US ambassador to Kazakhstan, Kuwait, and Lebanon.
In the last post, which he filled from 1996 to 1998 and in which he helped broker a cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon, he raised the ire of Hizbullah. After the 1997 helicopter crash near the Lebanese border that killed 73 IDF soldiers, he publicly expressed regret over the loss of Israeli life.
"One of my favorite headlines when I was in Lebanon was, 'Tensions mount as calls for Jones's head multiply,'" Jones reportedly told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in July. The Senate must confirm all ambassadorial appointments.
Despite his tendency to wind up in hot spots, The Washington Post described Jones as "an unusual choice for Israel" in an article it printed last month.
"An Arabist by training, he knows none of the major politicians on either side of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and has never been assigned to the issue, even in Washington."
The story pointed out that the new ambassador's "roots in the Arab world are so deep that his beloved greyhound is named Kisa for Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the country of his first posting in the Arab world."
"Perhaps they wanted someone who would take a fresh look. I come to the job without preconceptions," Jones suggested in an interview with the newspaper.
"Maybe they wanted someone who could provide the Arab perspective, too. The stakes are not just the Israeli handover and disengagement from Gaza. The aftermath will take months, if not years, to play out."
Jones will meet with Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom on Sunday, right after the latter's return from the US. Jones will formally present his credentials to President Moshe Katsav at Beit Hanasi on Monday, where he is due to deliver his first public address in office.
Most US Foreign Service tours last three years, according to new US Embassy spokesman Stewart Tuttle, but he noted that ambassadors have no set term limits. The previous US ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer, who departed this weekend, served for four years.
But perhaps three years will be enough for Jones.
An avid puzzle fan, he told the Post, "I like to see how fast I can solve things."
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Is this squeezing Israel a little more?
Current administration policy continues to amaze; they appoint a carpetbagger to be the new ambassador to Israel.
Bodes well.
Any Arabist who would so name his dog is OK in my book and defines his position/outlook. He knows well that a dog is haram and considered most unclean in Islam. Naming such a fine animal after the 'Magical' Kingdom is a brill stroke!! If it is all black, even better.....
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