In Memoriam: Martin S. Indyk

CFR’s Distinguished Fellow Martin S. Indyk passed away on July 25, 2024, at age 73.

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) mourns the passing of Martin S. Indyk, CFR’s Lowy distinguished fellow in U.S.-Middle East diplomacy since 2018 and a longtime CFR member.

A veteran diplomat and author, Ambassador Indyk devoted his illustrious career—both in and out of government—to pursuing a path to peace in the Middle East. A practitioner and scholar, he served as U.S. ambassador to Israel from 1995 to 1997 and again from 2000 to 2001. He also served as special assistant to President Bill Clinton and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs at the National Security Council from 1993 to 1995, as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs in the U.S. Department of State from 1997 to 2000, and as President Barack Obama’s special envoy for the Israeli–Palestinian negotiations from 2013 to 2014.

Outside of government, Ambassador Indyk spent decades in leadership positions at prominent U.S. think tanks, including the Center for Middle East Policy and the Brookings Institution. He was also the founding executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy for eight years.

Ambassador Indyk was a leading expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as U.S. relations with Israel and the Arab states. His writing featured prominently in Foreign Affairs and other influential outlets. Throughout his career, his was a rare, trusted voice within an otherwise polarized public debate on U.S. policy toward the Middle East.

He is the author of Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East and the coauthor with Michael O’Hanlon and Kenneth Lieberthal of Bending History: Barack Obama’s Foreign Policy. He also wrote Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy, a major work of diplomatic history published in 2021, which offered important lessons for current and future U.S. policy toward Middle East peacemaking.

Ambassador Indyk will be remembered as a mentor and a friend to generations of scholars and diplomats. Warm and supportive of his colleagues, he cared deeply about the CFR community. He was also widely respected by a wide range of Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs, and Americans across the political spectrum.

He will be greatly missed.