Meet Nada Hamadeh, Lebanon's US ambassador set to lead Israel talks

BEIRUT — Lebanon is preparing for historic direct talks with Israel in Washington on Tuesday, and its ambassador to the United States, Nada Hamadeh, is expected to head the delegation.

Lebanon and Israel, which remain technically at war, last sat down for direct negotiations decades ago, during the Madrid Conference in 1991. Then, the Lebanese track was under Syrian authority, given Damascus' control over Lebanon after the civil war. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he had instructed his government to “open direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible” on the disarmament of Iran-backed Hezbollah and the establishment of peaceful relations.

Netanyahu’s announcement came shortly after Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Thursday that negotiations with Israel to end its attacks in Lebanon must solely be conducted by the Lebanese state in a jab at Iran and its proxy group, Hezbollah, which has been engaged in a devastating war with Israel since March 2.

Hamadeh advocates closer US-Lebanese ties

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun named Hamadeh as Lebanon’s ambassador to the United States in June 2025 as part of diplomatic appointments that had been delayed since 2017 due to the successive political and economic crises in the country. She is the first female ambassador to represent Lebanon in Washington.

Hamadeh presented her credentials to President Donald Trump on Sept. 5, 2025, marking what was seen as a new chapter in the US-Lebanese relations, which had been rattled by Hezbollah’s growing influence in Lebanon.

In an interview with Lebanon's MTV on the day she submitted her credentials to Trump, Hamadeh expressed hope that she will be able to achieve “major changes in the US-Lebanese relations.”

“We have a historic opportunity in Lebanon. It is important for the US government and Trump to continue supporting Lebanon and its army during this critical juncture of Lebanon’s history,” she told MTV’s reporter in Washington.

Hamadeh has since met with several US officials and senators as part of her efforts to promote diplomatic collaboration between the US and Lebanon, while closely following US policy toward the region.

In this vein, she discussed the new US National Security Strategy and its implications for the Middle East, including Lebanon, during a January meeting with Andy Baker, the US deputy national security adviser.

Also in January, the Lebanese ambassador sat down with Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who is also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and one of the founding members and co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate Abraham Accords Caucus. The Abraham Accords normalized ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. Hamadeh expressed her appreciation for the committee’s support for the Lebanese military.

“We look forward to continuing to strengthen the relationship between the United States and Lebanon and advancing our shared commitment to security and stability,” she wrote in a post on LinkedIn.

Hamadeh and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a brief exchange on Aoun’s efforts to achieve peace during a Christmas reception at the White House last December.

Her engagements also included meetings with Congressman Abe Hamadeh, who is of Syrian descent, and Qatari Ambassador to the US Mashaal Al-Thani in January, and with Congressman Derek Tran of the House Armed Services Committee in February.

Hamadeh held talks with Richard Grenell, the US presidential envoy for special missions and head of the Trump Kennedy Center, earlier this year. In a post on LinkedIn, she said she was “honored” to meet with Grenell, who is the former acting director of national intelligence, and pointed to an upcoming “exciting collaboration.”

In the US, the Lebanese diplomat has also been active in outreach with the Lebanese diaspora, paying a visit to Phoenix in February 2026 and to Michigan in October 2025, where she met with Lebanese community members as well as religious and civic leaders.

More recently, Hamadeh attended an American Lebanese Medical Association gala in Houston last month.

Navigating war

Hamadeh took her position as ambassador at a time of drastic shifts in Lebanese politics, with Aoun and his government working to rein in Hezbollah. She was among the participants at the UN General Assembly last September, when Aoun delivered a speech, and later attended his meetings with Rubio and Trump's envoys, Tom Barrack and Morgan Ortagus.

Hamadeh was in Beirut in February, more than a month before the Israel-Hezbollah war erupted on March 2.

During her visit, she met with Aoun to discuss ways to strengthen US-Lebanese relations and held “constructive meetings” with Salam and Foreign Minister Joseph Rajji, according to a post on LinkedIn.

Lebanon had been under US pressure since a November 2024 ceasefire ended a first round of war between Israel and Hezbollah, to fully disarm the Iranian-backed group. The Lebanese army has sought more support from Washington, one of its main backers, to strengthen its capabilities to remove Hezbollah’s weapons.

Earlier on Feb. 7, Lebanese commander Rodolphe Haykal headed to the US on Feb. 7 and held high-level meetings with US administration officials and members of Congress. Hamadeh attended all those meetings, which focused on US support for the Lebanese military and strengthening bilateral cooperation.

On his first official visit to Washington, the Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Rodolph Haykal, held high-level meetings with U.S. administration officials and members of Congress, alongside H.E. Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad. pic.twitter.com/sFnS3phGnh

— Embassy of Lebanon in Washington, DC (@LebEmbassyUS) February 7, 2026

More recently, amid the ongoing war in Lebanon and the deteriorating humanitarian conditions, on March 9, Hamadeh posted an urgent appeal from the Lebanese Embassy in Washington on Facebook, calling for donations to support the hundreds of thousands of displaced through the High Relief Committee and the Lebanese Red Cross lists.

The Lebanese Embassy in Washington condemned the early March attack on a Michigan synagogue that the FBI said was inspired by Hezbollah. In a statement, the embassy expressed its “absolute rejection of all acts of violence targeting places of worship and innocent civilians,” stressing that the Lebanese community in the US maintains “a long-standing tradition of promoting coexistence, respecting religious and cultural diversity, and contributing positively to American society.”

It went on, “This incident constitutes an individual act and does not represent the Lebanese community in Dearborn, in Michigan, in the United States, or the Lebanese people as a whole.”

Hamadeh's career

Before joining the diplomatic corps, Hamadeh held senior positions at the World Bank and served in several other organizations, building experience in public policy and finance.

Hamadeh holds a master's degree in finance from George Washington University and a bachelor's in business administration from the American University of Beirut. She joined the World Bank in December 2003 as a senior economist, leading the International Comparison Program, one of the world's largest statistical initiatives.

She remained in that position for 15 years until April 2019, when she became the lead economist and program manager at the World Bank before managing the World Bank's Development Data Group in June 2022 until October 2023.

Prior to joining the World Bank, Hamadeh worked with the United Nations on economic analysis in the Middle East and North Africa. She advised the post-civil war Lebanese government on attracting foreign direct investment to support reconstruction efforts.

Hamadeh was a board member of the Washington-based Rene Moawad Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable social and economic development in Lebanon, from December 2024 until September 2025. She was also a member of the American Task Force on Lebanon from November 2024 until September 2025.

In 2007, Hamadeh and her husband, Lebanese physician Gerard Moawad, co-founded the M Medical Group, a major US-based health care company. Moawad, who is a quadruple board-certified physician residing in the US, is from the city of Zgharta in northern Lebanon.

From October 2023 until September 2025, she was managing director of the M Medical Group, leading the company’s financial strategy as well as mergers and acquisitions.

Hamadeh is from the village of Baakleen in the Chuf district southeast of Beirut. She is a Druze who reportedly converted to Maronite Christianity, following her husband’s religion. She is fluent in English, Arabic, French and Spanish.

On the personal level, she appears regularly alongside Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington, during events and receptions held at the Lebanese Embassy and elsewhere in the US.