In his address to the the 2018 AIPAC Policy Conference, United States Ambassador to Israel David Friedman rejoices in the pro-Israel actions of the Trump administration.
Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer with no previous diplomatic experience, is a li…
In his address to the the 2018 AIPAC Policy Conference, United States Ambassador to Israel David Friedman rejoices in the pro-Israel actions of the Trump administration.
Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer with no previous diplomatic experience, is a life-long supporter of Israel. His bar mitzvah took place at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Five former U.S. ambassadors to Israel questioned Friedman's appointment in February, writing that he has "extreme, radical positions" on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Friedman is president of a fundraising group for a yeshiva settlement in the West Bank, where the international community generally considers such settlements illegal.
The Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reports: "The Beit El yeshiva, a key beneficiary of Friedman’s fundraising organization, was founded and is still run by Rabbi Zalman Melamed, a driving force behind the far-right political party Tkuma (today part of Habayit Hayehudi). In 1995, following the Oslo agreements, which were meant to pave the way to an independent Palestinian state and end the occupation, Melamed was among a group of rabbis who declared the evacuation of army bases in the occupied territories a violation of Jewish law. In 2005, he urged Israeli soldiers to resist orders to evacuate the Gush Katif settlements in the Gaza Strip."
The parents of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, have donated many thousands to its institutions. The president-elect himself once made out a $10,000 check for Beit El’s residents.
The Jewish Forward reports: "In addition to funding institutions and projects in the Beit El settlement, Friedman’s organization has launched a new initiative on American college campuses to help Jewish students advocate against a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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