David Friedman Attends Official Israeli Event In Occupied West Bank
David Friedman Image by Courtesy Cindy Grosz
JERUSALEM (JTA) — David Friedman participated at an event in the West Bank city of Ariel, in his position as United States ambassador to Israel.
It is rare for U.S. envoys to Israel to appear in the West Bank in an official capacity.
The event, organized by the Judea and Samaria Chamber of Commerce and Industry, gathered together Israeli and Palestinian business leaders to discuss the joint economic ventures they are working to launch in the West Bank.
“At the invitation of the Judea and Samaria Chamber of Commerce, I met in Ariel with Palestinian & Israeli business leaders ready, willing & able to advance joint opportunity & peaceful coexistence. People want peace & we are ready to help! Is the Palestinian leadership listening?” Friedman tweeted about the closed door meeting.
U.S. ambassadors to Israel traditionally have not been permitted to cross the Green Line or participate in West Bank activities.
Friedman has previously publicly visited two settlements, both to pay condolence calls.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
