Ben Cardin Is Second Jewish Senator Voting ‘No’ On David Friedman

Image by Getty Images

By Daniel J. Solomon March 8, 2017

Sen. Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, pledged on Wednesday to oppose David Friedman as President Trump’s pick for next United States ambassador to Israel, becoming the second Jewish politician in the chamber to announce a “no” vote on the controversial nominee.

“I have concluded that his past record would make it very difficult for him to serve as that unifying force… For that reason, I am unable to support his nomination as America’s top diplomat in Israel,” Cardin said in a statement Wednesday, referring to Friedman’s history of derisive remarks.

The bankruptcy attorney and Trump friend has drawn the ire of liberal Jewish groups such as J Street for calling left-wing Jews Nazi-enabling “kapos,” blasting former President Obama as an anti-Semite and backing right-wing settlement policies on the West Bank.

Cardin is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which considers the nomination before it is sent to the entire Senate for a floor vote. Friedman’s nomination is likely to pass no matter how many Democrats oppose him, given a wall of Republican support for the choice.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

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