I have known Michael Oren for many years, having worked with him closely at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, where he is a senior fellow. So I will not hide my delight at his having been picked to be Israel’s new ambassador in Washington. Oren, whose article “Seven Existential Threats” appears in this month’s COMMENTARY, is a former American who fought in Israel’s wars, established himself as a world-class historian, and during the Lebanon war in 2006 emerged as Israel’s most gifted spokesperson in the English language (with the possible exception of Prime Minister Netanyahu himself). He is well-connected and well-liked both in the American Jewish community and in Washington, where he enjoys excellent connections on both sides of the aisle. There are few people, if any, better suited for the position today.

But Oren will face some serious challenges. He encounters an administration eager to distance itself from the overwhelming embrace of Israel offered by its predecessor, and eager to show what it considers to be progress in advancing peace between Israel and the Palestinians. At the same time, he represents a government that has rushed to show its independence, and also its reluctance to be a rubber stamp for American plans. And his boss, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, has earned himself a reputation among Americans as a loose cannon of the militant Right in Israel.

Nor will his job be an easy one vis-a-vis the Jewish diaspora in the United States. While Jewish support for Israel remains firm, it has fractured somewhat in recent years, with increasing numbers of Jews endorsing the Republican approach to supporting Israel, and with the emergence of J-Street, which positions itself as a liberal alternative to AIPAC.

Oren (whose appointment still requires Israeli cabinet approval) takes his post in the wake of Walt and Mearsheimer’s highly influential assault on what they call the “Israel lobby”; and in the wake of the AIPAC spying scandal, which just this week has fizzled, at least as far as the criminal investigation is concerned.

It is definitely not the best moment in either Israel-U.S. relations nor in the way American Jewry fits into the picture. Michael has his work cut out for him.