Gildenhorn Family Lecture Series, "US-Israel relations in a changing Middle East"
Gildenhorn Family Lecture Series, "US-Israel relations in a changing Middle East"
This keynote event will examine the evolving dynamics of US–Israel relations amid profound and still ongoing transformations in the Middle East. From shifting regional alliances and the impact of the Abraham Accords to the Gaza war that followed Hamas’ terror attack on October 7, 2023, and renewed great-power competition, the strategic environment surrounding the bilateral relationship is rapidly changing. The lecture will explore how shared interests, domestic politics in both countries, and diverging policy priorities shape cooperation and friction alike. It will assess whether the US–Israel partnership is adapting to a new regional order, and what the future of the relationship might look like in a reshaped regional as well as global order.
Ambassador Daniel B. Shapiro is a distinguished diplomat and foreign policy expert with over two decades of experience in senior U.S. government positions. Most recently, he was the top Middle East policy official at the Pentagon, serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East (2024-2025), and as a senior adviser to the Special Envoy for Iran during the Biden Administration.
Shapiro was U.S. Ambassador to Israel for over five years under President Obama (2011-2016). His government tenure included service on the National Security Council, where he coordinated Middle East policy and strategic initiatives, and the U.S. Department of State, where he was the first senior official dedicated to Middle East regional integration.
He previously served as Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa on the National Security Council, in which he served as a member of Special Envoy George Mitchell’s team, led U.S. diplomatic efforts in Syria and Lebanon, and advised President Obama through the early months of the upheavals in Arab states in 2011. From 2001 to 2007, Shapiro worked as legislative director and later deputy chief of staff for then US Senator Bill Nelson. From 1999 to 2001, he was director for legislative affairs at the National Security Council, serving as congressional liaison for National Security Adviser Sandy Berger. Shapiro also previously served as a staff member on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East and as a senior foreign policy adviser to US Senator Dianne Feinstein.
In addition to his government service, Shapiro served as a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council, where he spearheaded the N7 Initiative focused on regional integration, and as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
He holds degrees from Brandeis University and Harvard University. He is married to Julie Fisher, and they have 3 daughters.