Michael Ratney

Michael Alan Ratney[1] (born 1961) is the Chargé d’Affaires of the United States Embassy in Israel.[2] He was most recently the Dean of the School of Language Studies at the Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute. Prior to that, Ratney served as the State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Levant and Israel-Palestinian Affairs and, from 2015 to 2017, as the U.S. Special Envoy for Syria. From 2012 to 2015, Ratney was the U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem. Until 2012, Ratney was Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Media and, before that, Spokesman for the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

Michael Ratney
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Levant
In office February 2017 – December 2017
President	Donald Trump
Succeeded by	Joel Rayburn
United States Special Envoy for Syria
In office July 27, 2015 – January 20, 2017
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Daniel Rubinstein
Succeeded by	Joel Rayburn
United States Consul General in Jerusalem
In office July 27, 2012 – July 2015
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Daniel Rubinstein
Succeeded by	Donald Blome
Personal details
Born	1961 (age 59–60)
Spouse(s)	Karen Sasahara
Alma mater	Boston University, George Washington University

Since joining the Foreign Service in 1990, Ratney served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar, as well as tours in Mexico City, Baghdad, Beirut, Casablanca, Bridgetown, and Washington, DC. Ratney is from Massachusetts. He earned a BS from Boston University, and an MA from the George Washington University.[3]

Raised in Massachusetts, Ratney is a 1979 graduate of Bedford High School.[4] He has a B.S. in Mass Communication from Boston University and an M.A. in International Affairs from the George Washington University.[5]