Yechiel Leiter, who was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, has been a prominent rightwing thinker in Israel who was chief of staff to Netanyahu when he was finance minister and an aide to the late prime minister Ariel Sharon when he was a member of the Knesset
According to Israeli media, Leiter has been affiliated with conservative policy centres including the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and the Kohelet Forum
Haaretz also reported that Leiter was previously, 1. a member of the Jewish Defense League which was founded by the far-right Rabbi Meir Kahane 2. and was designated a terrorist organisation by the US for a series of attacks and assassinations 3. It was removed from that list due to inactivity
Leiter is reported to live in a West Bank settlement north of Ramallah and is a founder of the One Israel Fund which fundraises for settlers
Leiter's appointment was lauded by Israel Ganz, a rightwing settler leader who called,
Quote
Leiter a “key partner in English-language advocacy for Judea and Samaria”
the biblical term used by Israeli settler communities to refer to the West Bank
Leiter has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s Abraham accords, meant to normalize Israel’s relations with several large Arab states, saying that they have split support in the Muslim world for the Palestinian cause
Leiter has also called for,
Quote
ultimate Israeli “sovereignty” over the West Bank territories
a topic that will revive concerns about a potential annexation of the West Bank by the Netanyahu government
Trump during his first term reversed the US position that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank were illegal under international law and a number of settler leaders have said that Israel should formally annex the West Bank following Trump’s re-election to a second term
