| Daniel B. Shapiro | |
|---|---|
| Official U.S. State Department photo, June 2011 | |
| 19th United States Ambassador to Israel | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 8 June 2011 |
|
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | James B. Cunningham |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1969 Champaign, Illinois |
| Spouse(s) | Julie Fisher |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Brandeis University Harvard University |
| Religion | Conservative Judaism |
| Website | U.S. Embassy - Tel Aviv |
Daniel B. Shapiro (born 1969) is the 19th United States Ambassador to Israel. He was nominated by President Obama on March 29, 2011, and confirmed by the Senate on May 29.[1][2] He was sworn in as ambassador by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on July 8, 2011.[3]
Previously, he was the senior director for the Middle East and North Africa on the United States National Security Council. Shapiro is active in the Washington Jewish community and speaks fluent Hebrew and some Arabic.
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Shapiro was born in Champaign, Illinois, one of four children of novelist Elizabeth Klein Shapiro and University of Illinois English professor emeritus Michael Shapiro. He went to Westview Elementary and Edison Middle school in Champaign, and graduated from the University Laboratory High School of Urbana, Illinois in 1986. He first entered Washington University, spending his sophomore year in Israel, and then transferred to Brandeis University,[4] where he obtained a bachelor's degree in 1991 in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies.[5] Two years later he got a master's degree in Middle Eastern Politics from Harvard University.[6]
Shapiro speaks both Hebrew and Arabic[7].
Shapiro is married to Julie Fisher. The couple has three children. They are members of the Conservative Jewish Adas Israel Congregation in Washington.[8]
From 1993 to 1995 Shapiro served as a professional staff member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee under Chairman Lee H. Hamilton. From 1995 to 1999 he was a legislative assistant and senior foreign policy adviser to Senator Dianne Feinstein. From 1999 to 2001 he sat on the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton, as director of legislative affairs and as a Congressional liaison for National Security Advisor Sandy Berger. From 2001 to 2007 he was first legislative advisor and then deputy chief of staff (primarily on foreign policy issues) for U.S. Senator Bill Nelson. From 2007 till 2008 he was vice president of the Washington, D.C. lobbying firm Timmons & Company.[9]
Shapiro has served as an advisor to Barack Obama on Middle East and Jewish community issues since 2007, also assisting as strategist and fundraiser. [10] He accompanied Obama on his July 2008 trip to Israel; in August 2008, Obama appointed him senior policy adviser and Jewish Outreach coordinator for his 2008 presidential campaign.[11]
In January 2009, Shapiro was appointed senior director for the Middle East and North Africa of the U.S. National Security Council. Focusing on Israel, he attended every Israel related meeting, and met with every senior Israeli diplomat and military officer who visited Washington. Until September 2010, when the peace process collapsed, Shapiro visited Israel at least once a month and accompanied U.S. special envoy for Middle East Peace George J. Mitchell on all his trips to the region, taking a central role in talks regarding the failed settlement building freeze and the strengthening of military cooperation between the U.S. and Israel. He has maintained close relations with Benyamin Netanyahu, in spite of the tensions between the Israeli prime minister and President Obama.[12]
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