Former U.S. ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro was appointed the envoy for Abraham Accords, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Thursday. The creation of this position is currently working its way through U.S. Congress. It has already passed the House of Representatives earlier in June.
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"Pleased to announce former U.S. Amb. Daniel Shapiro is joining State Department as Senior Advisor for Regional Integration. Dan will support U.S. efforts to advance a more peaceful and interconnected region, deepen and broaden the Abraham Accords, and build the Negev Forum," he tweeted.
Shapiro served as ambassador to Israel during the presidency of Barak Obama from 2011 to 2017 and was replaced by David Freidman, a lawyer and friend of former president Donald Trump. He was an advisor to the Biden administration on Iran and will be tasked with boosting aspects of the Abraham Accords, including the Negev Forum, which includes Israel, Egypt, Jordan Morocco the UAE and Bahrain and seeks to advance joint regional projects in a variety of fields.
If voted into law, the special envoy would be tasked with encouraging additional countries to follow the lead of the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Bahrain in normalizing relations with the Jewish state. The State Department appointee would have the rank of an ambassador, thereby requiring Senate confirmation.
“While the appointment of former Ambassador Daniel Shapiro to the position of Senior Advisor for Regional Integration is welcome news, it does not take away from the fact that we must get the Special Envoy for the Abraham Accords Act signed into law, to ensure that all administrations share the same goal for Israel and the Middle East - lasting peace,” Rep. Mike Lawler, who is a co-sponsor of the Abraham Accords envoy bill said.