Martin Indyk

Martin Indyk
Martin Indyk, March 19, 2001
United States Ambassador to Israel
In office January 2000 – July 2001
President	Bill Clinton
In office April 1995 – September 1997
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Edward S. Walker Jr.
Succeeded by	Daniel C. Kurtzer
Preceded by	Edward Djerejian
Succeeded by	Edward S. Walker Jr.
Personal details
Born	Martin Sean Indyk (1951-07-01) July 1, 1951 (age 65) London, United Kingdom
Nationality	American
Spouse(s)	Jill Collier Indyk (divorced)
Children	Sarah Jacob
Relatives	Ivor Indyk (brother)
Alma mater	University of Sydney (B.A., 1972) Australian National University (Ph.D., International Relations, 1977)
Occupation	Diplomat, ambassador, professor
Known for	Founder, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Religion	Jewish

Martin Sean Indyk (born July 1, 1951) is the Vice President and Director for Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. He took leave from the Brookings Institution to serve as the U.S. Special Envoy for Israeli–Palestinian Negotiations from 2013 to 2014. Indyk served as United States ambassador to Israel and Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs during the Clinton Administration. He is known as the framer of the U.S. policy of dual containment which sought to 'contain' Iraq and Iran, which were both viewed as the United States' two most important strategic adversaries at the time. He is the author of Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peacemaking Diplomacy in the Middle East.

Martin Indyk was born to a Jewish family in London, United Kingdom. He was raised in Australia, growing up in the Sydney suburb of Castlecrag. He graduated from the University of Sydney in 1972 and received a PhD in international relations from the Australian National University in 1977. His brother is Ivor Indyk. He was formerly married to Jill Collier Indyk with whom he had two children, Sarah and Jacob.

Indyk emigrated to the United States and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1993.

During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Indyk spent time volunteering in a kibbutz in southern Israel’s southern region, an experience he has called "a defining moment in my life."

Indyk is a Reform Jew.

In 1982, Indyk began working as a deputy research director for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington. From 1985 Indyk served eight years as the founding Executive Director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a research institute specializing in analysis of Middle East policy. He has been an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where he taught Israeli politics and foreign policy.