# List of ambassadors of the United States to Israel

The United States ambassador to Israel is the official representative of the president of the United States to the head of state of Israel.
Until 1948 the area that is now the state of Israel had been under British administration as part of the League of Nations/United Nations British Mandate for Palestine. On May 14, 1948, the British government unilaterally terminated the mandate. On the same day, the Jewish Agency, under future Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, declared independence and named the country Israel. The United States immediately recognized the nation and moved to establish diplomatic relations. The first U.S. ambassador commissioned to Israel was James Grover McDonald, who presented his credentials to the government of Israel on March 28, 1949. The ambassador holds the title Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.
The embassy of the United States in Israel is located at 14 David Flusser Street in Jerusalem.

## Ambassadors and chiefs of mission

| Name | Appointed | Presented credentials | Terminated mission |
| James Grover McDonald – Political appointee | March 18, 1949 | March 28, 1949 | December 13, 1950 |
| Monnett Bain Davis – Career FSO | February 1, 1951 | February 26, 1951 | Died at post December 26, 1953 |
| Edward B. Lawson – Career FSO | April 9, 1954 | November 12, 1954 | February 17, 1959 |
| Ogden Rogers Reid – Political Appointee | June 5, 1959 | July 2, 1959 | Left Israel January 19, 1961 |
| Walworth Barbour – Career FSO | May 11, 1961 | June 12, 1961 | January 19, 1973 |
| Kenneth B. Keating – Political appointee | June 22, 1973 | August 28, 1973 | Died in New York May 5, 1975 |
| Malcolm Toon – Career FSO | June 9, 1975 | July 10, 1975 | December 27, 1976 |
| Samuel W. Lewis – Career FSO | April 26, 1977 | May 25, 1977 | May 31, 1985 |
| Thomas R. Pickering – Career FSO | July 12, 1985 | August 6, 1985 | December 28, 1988 |
| William Andreas Brown – Career FSO | November 22, 1988 | December 29, 1988 | January 7, 1992 |
| William Caldwell Harrop – Career FSO | November 21, 1991 | January 21, 1992 | May 7, 1993 |
| Edward Djerejian – Career FSO | November 22, 1993 | January 13, 1994 | August 9, 1994 |
| Martin Indyk – Political appointee | March 4, 1995 | April 10, 1995 | September 27, 1997 |
| Edward S. Walker, Jr. – Career FSO | November 10, 1997 | December 24, 1997 | January 23, 2000 |
| Martin Indyk – Political appointee | November 16, 1999 | January 25, 2000 | July 13, 2001 |
| Daniel C. Kurtzer – Career FSO | July 12, 2001 | July 18, 2001 | July 17, 2005 |
| Richard Henry Jones – Career FSO | August 2, 2005 | September 26, 2005 | April 27, 2008 |
| James B. Cunningham – Career FSO | June 30, 2008 | September 17, 2008 | May 21, 2011 |
| Daniel B. Shapiro – Political appointee | July 8, 2011 | August 3, 2011 | January 20, 2017 |
| David M. Friedman – Political appointee | March 23, 2017 | May 15, 2017 | January 20, 2021 |
| Thomas R. Nides – Political appointee | November 3, 2021 | December 5, 2021 | July 21, 2023 |
| Stephanie Hallett – Career FSO - Chargé d'affaires ad interim | July 21, 2023 | N/A | November 5, 2023 |
| Jack Lew - Political appointee | October 31, 2023 | November 5, 2023 | January 20, 2025 |
| Stephanie Hallett – Career FSO - Chargé d'affaires ad interim | January 20, 2025 | N/A | Incumbent |
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