David Friedman Denies Calling For Ouster Of Abbas
Image by Getty Images
JERUSALEM (JTA) — U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said reports about an interview in which he suggested that the White House was waiting for someone to replace Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas misrepresented his comments.
The interview will be published in Shevi’i, a Religious-Zionist newspaper that comes out on Fridays. Excerpts of the interview were released on Wednesday.
“If Abu Mazen is not interested in negotiating, I am sure that someone else will want to,” Friedman said in the released excerpts. Abu Mazen is Abbas’ nom de guerre. “If Abbas creates a vacuum, I am convinced that someone else will fill it, and then we will move forward” with the peace process.
On Thursday, Friedman clarified his comments in a tweet.
“I was misquoted in various reports stemming from an interview that published today. The United States is not seeking ‘to replace’ Mahmoud Abbas. It is for the Palestinian people to choose its leadership,” the tweet said.
Abbas’ five-year term as head of the Palestinian Authority ended in 2009; no new elections have been called and he remains in his post.
Abbas cut ties with Friedman and U.S. peace negotiators in December, when President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and said he would move the U.S. embassy there.
A message from our CEO & publisher 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.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
