5 Ex-Ambassadors To Israel Brand David Friedman ‘Unqualified’
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — Five former U.S. ambassadors to Israel who served under both Democratic and Republican presidents said that President Donald Trump’s nominee as envoy is “unqualified for the position.
In a letter sent Wednesday to the Senate Foreign Relations committee, which begins confirmation hearings for Trump attorney and bankruptcy expert David Friedman on Thursday, the former ambassadors said that Friedman has staked out “extreme, radical positions” and has derided the two-state solution
The letter urged the committee to “satisfy itself that Mr. Friedman has the balance and the temperament required to represent the United States as ambassador to Israel,”
The letter was signed by Thomas Pickering, William Harrop, Edward Walker, Daniel Kurtzer and James Cunningham, who said in the letter that they “care deeply about Israel: an American ally, a stronghold of democracy in the Middle East and homeland for the Jewish people.”
The letter noted that Friedman rejects a two-state solution and notes that he has been “active in supporting and financing the settler movement.”
Friedman has come under fire for derogatory statements he has made against liberal Jews, including calling supporters of J Street, the liberal Jewish Middle East policy group, “kapos.”
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