Israel Middle East Politics & Diplomacy

Press Release

March 28, 2022

Ambassador Daniel Shapiro Joins Atlantic Council

By Atlantic Council

Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel joins the Middle East Programs’ Israel Initiative.

WASHINGTON, DC – March 28, 2022 – Today the Atlantic Council announced that Ambassador Daniel Shapiro will be joining as a Distinguished Fellow.  A former U.S. Ambassador to Israel during the Obama administration, Shapiro was most recently Senior Adviser to the Special Envoy for Iran.

Ambassador Shapiro will play a key role in the Council’s leading work on Israel and in its N7 program dedicated to advancing normalization, peace, and stability in the region in the wake of the Abraham Accords. This work, in partnership with the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation, included last October’s groundbreaking N7 Conference, which for the first time brought together senior government leaders from Israel and all six Arab countries that have announced normalizations: Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.

“Ambassador Shapiro brings deep experience driving policy on Israel and the broader region,” said Director of Middle East Programs William Wechsler.  “His passion and expertise will be a critical asset to the Atlantic Council’s growing work on the U.S.-Israel relationship and our N7 program on normalization.”

Ambassador Shapiro previously served as Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa on the National Security Council at the White House, following his role as Senior Policy Adviser in Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.  Ambassador Shapiro dedicated much of his career working in senior positions in the United States Congress, with a particular focus on Middle East policy.  From 2001 to 2007 he worked as legislative director and later deputy chief of staff for U.S. Senator Bill Nelson.  From 1999 to 2001, he was Director for Legislative Affairs at the National Security Council, serving as Congressional liaison for National Security Adviser Sandy Berger.  Ambassador Shapiro also previously served as a staff member on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East, and as a senior foreign policy adviser to Senator Dianne Feinstein.  

In addition to his Congressional posts, he has also served as an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.  Before joining the Biden administration, Ambassador Shapiro was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv from 2017 to 2021. Concurrently, he was a Principal at WestExec Advisors.

“The Negev Summit in Israel attended by the foreign ministers of Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Egypt, and Secretary of State Blinken, demonstrates the enormous opportunities to add momentum to the promise of the Abraham Accords,” said Ambassador Shapiro. “The Atlantic Council’s growth and leadership in the area of Middle East policy, with particular focus on advancing normalization between Israel and Arab states, have been impressive and inspiring.  I saw what they can accomplish behind the scenes when I moderated their N7 conference last October, and I am excited to contribute to an already strong team in advancing initiatives to seize these opportunities in this critical region.”

Oren Eisner, President of the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation, stated: “We are thrilled to welcome Ambassador Shapiro to the N7 team and look forward to working closely together to help advance Arab-Israeli normalization.”

For media inquiries, please contact press@atlanticcouncil.org

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