U.S. envoy Jones set for promotion in State Dept. shuffle

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Richard H. Jones is the leading candidate for the position of U.S. ambassador to Moscow, Israeli government officials said yesterday.

They said they did not know if Jones, who has previously served as U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan and speaks Russian, would be leaving his post before his term here ends this summer.

According to the Israeli officials, the American diplomat with the best chance of being posted to Tel Aviv after Jones leaves is Robert Danin, who is responsible for Israel, Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon in his position as deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs.

Jones' predicted transfer would be part of the fallout from an announcement by Nicholas Burns that he has decided to resign from his position as under secretary of state for political affairs. He is due to be replaced by U.S. Ambassador to Russia William Burns, who previously served as assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.