Mira Resnick, a longtime standby in Washington foreign policy circles who has overseen U.S. arms transfers at the State Department since the start of the Biden administration, will move into a new position overseeing Washington’s handling of Israeli-Palestinian issues and the Persian Gulf, Jewish Insider has learned.

As the deputy assistant secretary of state for Israel/Palestinian affairs and Arabian Peninsula affairs, Resnick will handle two crucial Middle East portfolios usually helmed by two separate people. She comes to the role after three-and-a-half years as deputy assistant secretary of state for regional security, where she managed foreign arms sales, and shepherded the Biden administration’s military assistance to Ukraine and Israel after Russia’s invasion and after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

“Any secretary of state working through a crisis like what this administration faces in the Middle East would want the most competent, capable, action-oriented policy professionals. This is exactly why Secretary [Tony] Blinken asked Mira to move over to this job despite the incredibly important critical work she is doing to make sure our partners in Ukraine, Taiwan and the Middle East have the defense articles they need,” said a former Biden administration official who has worked closely with Resnick. 

Resnick joined the State Department after a decade and a half on Capitol Hill, ending with several years working for former Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) as the senior Democratic staffer on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Her time with Engel followed positions with several other pro-Israel Democrats, including former Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Ron Klein (D-FL) and Steve Israel (D-NY). 

“The U.S.-Israel relationship was a private focus in my household because of my Jewish background, but also because we were just a politically aware family,” she told The Hill in 2023.

The Jerusalem Post named Resnick to a list of the 50 most influential Jews in 2022, touting her work building defense partnerships in the Middle East and continuing to assert the value of U.S. support for Israel. 

“We will make sure Israel can continue to defend itself and respond to the many threats that surround it,” Resnick told The Jerusalem Post. She also advocated for stronger regional cooperation: “We will continue to look for security cooperation because these [countries] do respond to the threats Israel and its neighbors face.” 

That Resnick’s new role encompasses both Israel and the Gulf provides an opportunity to advance “integration across the Middle East,” said the former Biden administration official.

“This appointment puts her in a unique position to advance this agenda. In order to have a sound day-after plan for Gaza, and a viable political horizon for a Palestinian state,” said the former official. “The support and active participation of the entire region will be required, especially from Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Doha. Now Mira will bring her skills to support those ongoing efforts.”

A State Department spokesperson declined to comment. Resnick did not respond to a request for comment.

Her appointment earned praise from supporters of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, while anti-Israel voices in Washington attacked Blinken for naming Resnick to the post.

“I’ve worked with Mira for close to 20 years.  She is a consummate foreign policy expert, and this transition reflects the State Department’s appreciation of Mira as a top diplomat, capable of leading on two of its most sensitive portfolios,” said Daniel Silverberg, who formerly served as a senior foreign policy advisor to Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD).
 
Anneline Sheline, a harsh critic of U.S. support for Israel who quit the State Department as a result, said Resnick’s appointment “reflects a doubling down on the administration’s determination to continue to provide unconditional material support for Israel’s genocidal campaign against civilians in Gaza.”