President-elect Donald J. Trump appointed David Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer, as the next ambassador to Israel. In addition to being a bankruptcy lawyer, Mr. Friedman was also Mr. Trump’s lawyer. He represented Trump in matters involving Atlantic City casinos, having said they have been friends for 15 years. Trump, in the statement, called him “a long-time friend and trusted advisor to me.”
From the very start, President-elect Trump’s choice seems to have been personal, which might interfere with his plans to make “the ultimate deal” between Israelis and Palestinians.
“The transition office statement noted that [Friedman’s] bar mitzvah was held at the Western Wall in Jerusalem 45 years ago, and described him as ‘a fluent speaker of Hebrew and a lifelong student of Israel’s history.’ […] Involved in a number of philanthropic activities in Israel, Friedman is president of an American group set up to support Beit El, a settlement located east of the Palestinian city of Ramallah. The settlement has also received charitable contributions from the foundation headed by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner,” reported The Washington Post.
Mr. Friedman not only opposes the two-state solution, under which Israelis and Palestinians could live side by side in peace, but he has also mentioned he looks forward to doing the job “from the U.S. embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.” In appointing Mr. Friedman to office, Trump strives “for peace in the Middle East,” something unachievable simultaneously with his plans to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Donald Trump wasn’t the only one who vowed to make that move in his presidential campaign. George W. Bush and Bill Clinton both made similar claims. They both dropped the idea after realizing this would anger Arabs and undermine peace efforts.
Mr. Friedman’s writing on the website Arutz Sheva, an Israeli media organization, accused President Obama of anti-Semitism while also comparing J Street, the liberal American Jewish organization that has lobbied for the Iran nuclear deal as well as the two-state solution, to kapos (Jews who turned in fellow Jews in Nazi camps).
Daniel C. Kurtzer, a professor of Middle East policy studies at Princeton and a United States ambassador to Israel in the George W. Bush administration, stated in a New York Times Op-Ed that Trump’s “selection of David Friedman […] is a serious mistake that should be rectified.” He further noted that “Mr. Trump would be wise to follow the tradition of appointing an experienced professional as our ambassador to Israel,” and that “Mr. Friedman is not that person.” The New York Times Editorial Board wrote “The Senate has the responsibility to protect Mr. Trump and the country from taking this reckless step.”
