Martin Indyk, diplomat who sought Middle East peace, dies at 73

Martin Indyk, an author, think tank leader and diplomat who worked toward peace in the Middle East, has died at the age of 73, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank he helped establish, said in a statement on Thursday.

Indyk twice served 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 was assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs from 1997-2000, also under Clinton, and returned to government to serve as the U.S. special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations from 2013 to 2014, under President Barack Obama.

The top Middle East policy adviser on Clinton's National Security Council before his tours in Israel and time at the State Department, Indyk was deeply involved in Clinton's failed 2000 effort to coax the Israelis and Palestinians to a peace deal. 

He wrote a book about the experience, "Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East."

Resigning as Middle East peace envoy in 2014 following the collapse of Israeli-Palestinian talks, Indyk returned to the world of policy analysis. 

On his departure from government, Secretary of State John Kerry praised Indyk as an indefatigable diplomat who had dedicated decades of his career to trying to achieve peace.

More recently, Indyk was a leading scholar on Middle East policy at the Brookings Institution and the Council on Foreign Relations.

His books also included "Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy," published in 2021.

Reuters