Biden Sends Michael Ratney to Israel; Deleted Emails in Anti-Netanyahu Plot in 2015 20 May 2021 President Joe Biden is sending diplomat Michael Ratney to represent the U.S. in Israel in the absence of an official ambassador — despite Ratney’s role in an attempt by the Obama administration to interfere in Israel’s 2015 election and oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Times of Israel reported Ratney’s appointment Thursday. In 2015, Ratney was the Obama administration’s Consul General in Jerusalem, as the State Department spent $465,000 on a group called OneVoice, which then joined a group called Victory 15 (V15) and worked to defeat Netanyahu and his Likud Party in Israel’s elections. President Barack Obama saw Netanyahu as an obstacle to his efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, and to force Israel to make deep concessions to the Palestinians.