Pete Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary, said earlier this month that U.S. President Donald Trump had nominated Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Sean Salene to be U.S. security coordinator at the Israel-Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem, with the rank of lieutenant general.
Salene has been deputy U.S. Central Command commander in Tampa, Fla., since July.
According to CENTCOM, Salene has served in the Horn of Africa, Afghanistan and Iraq, among other locations. He became a lay minister for an Anglican priest in Baghdad and led a congregation in Iraq, per CENTCOM.
He became director of strategy, plans and policy at CENTCOM in June 2022.
“He led bilateral and multi-lateral planning and engagements before and after Oct 7, 2023, through unprecedented state-on-state attacks in the region, and during campaigns and operations to achieve command objectives,” CENTCOM said.
The major general has five graduate degrees, it added.
The U.S. Senate referred the nomination to its Armed Services Committee.
