Current:Home > MarketsMartin Indyk, former U.S. diplomat and author who devoted career to Middle East peace, dies at 73 -Intelligent Capital Compass
Martin Indyk, former U.S. diplomat and author who devoted career to Middle East peace, dies at 73
View
Date:2025-04-15 15:29:01
NORWICH, Conn. (AP) — Veteran diplomat Martin S. Indyk, an author and leader at prominent U.S. think tanks who devoted years to finding a path toward peace in the Middle East, died Thursday. He was 73.
His wife, Gahl Hodges Burt, confirmed in a phone call that he died from complications of esophageal cancer at the couple’s home in New Fairfield, Connecticut.
The Council on Foreign Relations, where Indyk had been a distinguished fellow in U.S. and Middle East diplomacy since 2018, called him a “rare, trusted voice within an otherwise polarized debate on U.S. policy toward the Middle East.”
A native of Australia, Indyk served as U.S. ambassador to Israel from 1995 to 1997 and from 2000 to 2001. He was special envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations during former President Barack Obama’s administration, from 2013 to 2014.
When he resigned in 2014 to join The Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, it had symbolized the latest failed effort by the U.S. to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. He continued as Obama’s special adviser on Mideast peace issues.
“Ambassador Indyk has invested decades of his extraordinary career to the mission of helping Israelis and Palestinians achieve a lasting peace. It’s the cause of Martin’s career, and I’m grateful for the wisdom and insight he’s brought to our collective efforts,” then-Secretary of State John Kerry said at the time, in a statement.
In a May 22 social media post on X, amid the continuing war in Gaza, Indyk urged Israelis to “wake up,” warning them their government “is leading you into greater isolation and ruin” after a proposed peace deal was rejected. Indyk also called out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in June on X, accusing him of playing “the martyr in a crisis he manufactured,” after Netanyahu accused the U.S. of withholding weapons that Israel needed.
“Israel is at war on four fronts: with Hamas in Gaza; with Houthis in Yemen; with Hezbollah in Lebanon; and with Iran overseeing the operations,” Indyk wrote on June 19. “What does Netanyahu do? Attack the United States based on a lie that he made up! The Speaker and Leader should withdraw his invitation to address Congress until he recants and apologizes.”
Indyk also served as special assistant to former President Bill Clinton and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs at the National Security Council from 1993 to 1995. He served as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs in the U.S. Department of State from 1997 to 2000.
Besides serving at Brookings and the Council on Foreign Relations, Indyk worked at the Center for Middle East Policy and was the founding executive director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Indyk’s successor at the Washington Institute called him “a true American success story.”
“A native of Australia, he came to Washington to have an impact on the making of American Middle East Policy and that he surely did - as pioneering scholar, insightful analyst and remarkably effective policy entrepreneur,” Robert Satloff said. “He was a visionary who not only founded an organization based on the idea that wise public policy is rooted in sound research, he embodied it.”
Indyk wrote or co-wrote multiple books, including “Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East” and “Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy,” which was published in 2021.
veryGood! (69538)
Related
- Jay Kanter, veteran Hollywood producer and Marlon Brando agent, dies at 97: Reports
- What is August's birthstone? There's actually three. Get to know the month's gems.
- Bookmaker to plead guilty in gambling case tied to baseball star Shohei Ohtani’s ex-interpreter
- Proposed rule would ban airlines from charging parents to sit with their children
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- Behind the lines of red-hot wildfires, volunteers save animals with a warm heart and a cool head
- Legislation will provide $100M in emergency aid to victims of wildfires and flooding in New Mexico
- Olympic female boxers are being attacked. Let's just slow down and look at the facts
- Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
- These Designer Michael Kors Handbags Are up 85% off Right Now & All Under $100
Ranking
- NCAA President Charlie Baker would be 'shocked' if women's tournament revenue units isn't passed
- North Carolina House member back in leading committee position 3 years after removal
- 50 Cent addresses Diddy allegations and why he never partied with the rapper
- Sea lions are stranding themselves on California’s coast with signs of poisoning by harmful algae
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- Olympic female boxers are being attacked. Let's just slow down and look at the facts
- Stephen Nedoroscik’s Girlfriend Tess McCracken Has Seen Your Memes—And She Has a Favorite
- Arkansas Supreme Court asked to disqualify ballot measure that would block planned casino
Recommendation
Southern California rocked by series of earthquakes: Is a bigger one brewing?
Simone Biles wins historic Olympic gold medal in all-around final: Social media reacts
Biden’s new Title IX rules are all set to take effect. But not in these states.
'Love Island UK' Season 11: Who are the winners? How to stream the finale in the US
Michigan lawmaker who was arrested in June loses reelection bid in Republican primary
Carrie Underwood set as Katy Perry's 'American Idol' judge for Season 23
Wildfires encroach on homes near Denver as heat hinders fight
Angels' Mike Trout suffers another major injury, ending season for three-time MVP