Donald Trump’s Israel Adviser Pledges To Stonewall J Street

David Friedman Image by Courtesy Cindy Grosz

By Nathan Guttman December 5, 2016

David Friedman, a top adviser to President-elect Trump on Israel, has pledged not to meet the dovish group J Street if he is appointed U.S. ambassador to Israel.

He spoke Sunday in a closed-door panel discussion held by the Saban Forum in Washington.

J Street’s president Jeremy Ben-Ami was there. He responded on Twitter:

Lord help friends of Israel if someone like David Friedman is making US policy on Israel rather than John Kerry. #Saban16

— Jeremy Ben-Ami (@JeremyBenAmi) December 4, 2016

The bankruptcy lawyer turned policy adviser skipped an address by Secretary of State Kerry to the forum. Instead he attended a fundraising gala dinner held by the American Friends of Bet El Institutions, where he serves as president. The non-profit group raises funds for Bet El, a West Bank Jewish settlement not far from Ramallah.

According to its tax filings, the group raised in previous years around $2 million, which supported activities in Bet El and the settler radio station Arutz Sheva.

The gala included keynote speeches from Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon, and John Bolton, rumored to be a possible pick for Secretary of State in Trump’s administration.

Should he be appointed ambassador, how would Friedman bridge the gap between his active support for the settlements and America’s years-long support for a two-state solution which would require removal of many settlements?

This question was on the minds of many at the Saban Forum as well, who expressed surprise at his hawkish comments.

Friedman, according to participants, would not say a Trump administration would work to advance a two-state solution. Before the election, he went on record saying that Trump may abandon the idea altogether. Days before Americans went to the polls, Friedman released a policy paper he co-authored with Trump’s personal attorney Jason Dov Greenblatt, also an Israel adviser to the president-elect. The two argued that a two-state solution “appears impossible” due to Palestinians’ behavior.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO