President Obama’s new National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf does not have much experience with Israeli and Palestinian issues, but observers said the White House will instead benefit from his extensive inside-the-beltway skills.
bringing with him years of federal government experience and a decade in Washington’s think tank world. Like some of his predecessors, Gordon’s strengths lie more in his knowledge of Washington than his familiarity with the meeting rooms of Jerusalem and Ramallah.
While most of his scholarship has focused elsewhere, Gordon has over the years penned op-eds on Israeli and Palestinian issues. During the Israel-Lebanon war in 2006, Gordon wrote in the Washington Post and the Financial Times that Israel’s bombing campaign was ill advised, as was the United States’ backing for it.