William Harrop, the current U.S. ambassador to Israel, is scheduled to end his tour of duty May 7 and will be replaced on a temporary basis by his predecessor, William Brown, according to sources here.
Brown, in turn, is expected to be replaced after a few months by Reginald Bartholomew, a former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon and currently U.S. ambassador to NATO and special envoy to the Balkans, according to a report in the Yediot Achronot newspaper.
In Washington, the State Department confirmed Harrop’s departure and Brown’s temporary assignment, but could not give an exact date of the changeover. But it had no comment on the expected appointment of Bartholomew, whose nomination would have to be confirmed by the Senate.
Israeli reports said Brown was expected to serve here as an active ambassador for only a few months, until Bartholomew takes over.
Brown, who speaks fluent Hebrew, has served two previous tours of duty in Israel. Prior to becoming ambassador in 1989, he served as deputy chief of mission under Ambassador Samuel Lewis. Lewis, who is now director of the State Department’s policy planning team, was visiting Israel this week.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
