Following the devastating news that we had lost a staunch advocate for peace, NIF global CEO Daniel Sokatch wrote the following memorial which we invite you to share to honour the legacy of Ambassador Indyk, NIF Australia Patron and dedicated advocate for peace. 

Martin Indyk, devoted and beloved former NIF board member, passed away today. 

I remember the day in 2013 when Martin Indyk told me he was stepping down from the New Israel Fund board to join then-Secretary of State John Kerry as he embarked on a new project: the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations after a long hiatus. 

That day, I quoted Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, in many ways the spiritual father of the Jewish social justice movement of which NIF is a part, who warned of the “heresy of despair,” and urged the active “defiance of despair.” Defying despair doesn’t mean pollyannishly ignoring the very real challenges that the forces of peace and justice face at this juncture. It doesn’t mean understating the difficulty of the task. It means never stopping the critical work of supporting those who work to hold their country—be it in Israel or the United States—accountable to the highest ideals of Jewish tradition, liberal democracy and international human rights. It means standing up when everyone is sitting down. And that’s what Martin did. Always.

Martin devoted so much of his career, including that position as special envoy to the peace talks and leader of the American team under Obama, to pursuing peace between Israel and its neighbors, and he is a tireless advocate for an Israel that lives up to the vision of its founders. He served as a wise, passionate and committed NIF board member and helped our organization go from strength to strength.

Beyond all of this, he was a perfect mensch. He was a man who practiced what he preached, and who did not give up easily. I, and our entire NIF family will miss him dearly.