Martin Indyk, who served as the US ambassador to Israel under President Bill Clinton and as a special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations under President Barack Obama, has passed away at 73.
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, which Indyk co-founded in 1985, announced his death and highlighted his major contributions to American Middle East policy.
“From the Oslo process to the policy of ‘dual containment’ of Saddam’s Iraq and Islamic Iran, Martin left a deep and lasting imprint on the making and shaping of American Middle East policy,” remarked Dr. Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute.
Indyk’s wife, Gal Hodges Burt, confirmed to multiple sources that he died from complications related to esophageal cancer at their residence in New Fairfield, Connecticut.
Former President Bill Clinton also expressed his condolences on X, stating, “Martin Indyk was an extraordinarily skilled diplomat who, no matter the obstacles, never gave up on the prospect of peace.” Clinton further noted, “I’ll always be deeply grateful for the important role he played in my Administration’s efforts to end the conflict in the Middle East. The world would be better off if there were a lot more people like him.”
A distinguished diplomat with a focus on Middle East issues, Indyk was the US ambassador to Israel from 1995 to 1997 and again from 2000 to 2001. Under the Obama administration, he was appointed as special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations from 2013 to 2014 and continued as a special adviser on Middle East peace after his resignation.
As recently as May, Indyk remained actively engaged in discussions about the Gaza conflict, criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and accusing the Israeli government of leading the country toward “isolation and ruin” after a failed peace deal. In June, he described Netanyahu as “playing the martyr in a crisis he manufactured.”