President-elect Trump named Morgan Ortagus, a favourite among the US’s pro-Israel lobby, as his incoming administration’s Deputy Special Presidential Envoy for Middle East Peace on Friday, Al Jazeera reports.

Ortagus, who is Jewish, will serve under Special Envoy Steven Witkoff, who has been described as an admirer of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

She served as spokesperson at the State Department from 2019-2021 under the first Trump administration, and was a member Abraham Accords team — which oversaw the normalisation of relations between Israel and Bahrain, and Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Accepting the appointment, Ortagus said she was “honoured” to represent her country in what she called a “crucial diplomatic role”.

US Senator Lindsey Graham praised Ortagus’s appointment, as he pointed to her “extensive ties to the State of Israel”.