Martin Indyk, an esteemed author, think tank leader, and diplomat renowned for his efforts towards achieving peace in the Middle East, passed away at the age of 73. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank he co-founded, announced his death in a statement on Thursday.
Martin Indyk’s diplomatic career was marked by his two terms as the United States ambassador to Israel, first from 1995 to 1997 and then from 2000 to 2001, during the presidency of Democrat Bill Clinton. He also served as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs from 1997 to 2000, under Clinton’s administration, and later as the U.S. special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations from 2013 to 2014, under President Barack Obama.
Born in Britain in 1951 and raised in Australia, Martin Indyk earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Sydney University and a doctorate from the Australian National University. He relocated to the United States in 1982 to serve as a visiting professor and fellow at Columbia University and became a U.S. citizen in 1993.
Before his ambassadorship and time at the State Department, Martin Indyk was a pivotal Middle East policy adviser on Clinton’s National Security Council. He played a significant role in Clinton’s unsuccessful 2000 attempt to broker a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians, an experience he chronicled in his book, “Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East.”
Following the collapse of Israeli-Palestinian talks in 2014, Martin Indyk resigned as Middle East peace envoy and returned to policy analysis. Upon his departure from government, Secretary of State John Kerry commended Indyk as a tireless diplomat who devoted decades of his career to striving for peace.
In his later years, Martin Indyk was a prominent scholar on Middle East policy at the Brookings Institution and the Council on Foreign Relations. His scholarly contributions included the 2021 publication, “Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy.”
Martin Indyk’s passing marks the end of a distinguished career dedicated to peace and diplomacy in one of the world’s most tumultuous regions.
