The American Jewish media body "Forwood" reported that Tom Neidas and Robert Wexler will compete for the key role in the Middle East • It is also reported that President Biden is close to a decision
US Embassy in Jerusalem
Photo:
Oren Ben Hakon
President Joe Biden has reduced the list of candidates for the position of US ambassador to Israel to only two individuals, and is expected to decide this week on the identity of the ambassador, the Jewish-American news agency Forward reported.
Notable candidates, according to the report, are Thomas Neidas, a former senior Clinton and Obama administration official, and Robert Wexler, a Florida congressman who previously served as President Obama's envoy to the state's Jewish community.
The Jewish media claimed that Niles was the leading candidate, but a final decision has not yet been made in the White House.
Sources within the White House have told the Forward that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken prefers Wexler to the post of ambassador while the president's close adviser, Steve Ricci, supports the appointment of Niles.
Wexler himself declined to comment on reports that he is a candidate for the job.
In 2009 Wexler resigned from the US House of Representatives and was claimed to be a possible candidate for ambassador to Israel by the Obama administration.
Niles (60) currently serves as vice chairman of Morgan Stanley Investment Bank, one of the most important and largest in America.
He comes from a Jewish family from Minnesota.
From 2013 to 2011 he was Deputy Secretary of State for Human Resources under then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in the Obama administration.