Martin Indyk, Vice President and Director of Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution, has been named by Secretary of State John Kerry as Middle East Peace Envoy. Indyk is the former US Ambassador to Israel.
Amb. Indyk was the Founding Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Peace Policy at Brookings. Tamara Cofman Wittnes is the current Director of that Center, which was launched in May 2002.
Amb. Indyk is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He was previously Founding Executive Director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP).
Much of Indyk's writing and research at Brookings can be found here.
Here is a press release from Brookings about Amb. Indyk being named US Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations. It says that Indyk will assume his new post effective immediately and will be taking a leave of absence from Brookings.
Ted Piccone, currently Deputy Director of the Foreign Policy Program, will serve as Acting Vice President and Director in the interim.
The Brookings Institution was recently ranked as the best think tank in the world by the annual University of Pennsylvania think tank rankings.