Trump taps Israel envoy, eyes moving embassy to Jerusalem
ASSOCIATED PRESS
President-elect Donald Trump arrives for a rally in Hershey, Pa., Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016.
WASHINGTON >> President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he will nominate attorney David Friedman as U.S. ambassador to Israel, selecting an envoy who supports Israeli settlements and other changes to U.S. policies in the region. Friedman said he looked forward to carrying out his duties from “the U.S. embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem,” even though the embassy is in Tel Aviv.
Like some of his predecessors, Trump has vowed to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, a politically charged act that would anger Palestinians who want east Jerusalem as part of their sovereign territory. The move would also distance the U.S. from most of the international community, including its closest allies in Western Europe and the Arab world.
The president-elect said Friedman would “maintain the special relationship” between the U.S. and Israel.
But the announcement sparked anger from liberal Jewish groups. Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, called nominating Friedman “reckless,” citing his support for settlements and his questioning of a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
The statement doesn’t detail how Friedman could work in Jerusalem. However, Trump advisers have insisted in recent days that the president-elect will follow through on his call for moving the embassy.
“He has made that promise,” Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told reporters Thursday. “I can guarantee you, just generally, he’s a man who is going to accomplish many things very quickly.”
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One option Trump allies have discussed would involve Friedman, if confirmed by the Senate, working out of an existing U.S. consulate in Jerusalem. According to a person who has discussed the plan with Trump advisers, the administration would essentially deem the facility the American embassy by virtue of the ambassador working there.
It’s unclear how far those discussions have gotten or whether Trump himself has been briefed on the proposal. Trump’s transition team did not respond to questions about the matter.
Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush promised to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, but backed away from the idea once in office.
Virtually all embassies to Israel are located in or around Tel Aviv.
Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move that is not internationally recognized. It claims the entire city as its capital. The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem, home to key Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites, as the capital of their future state.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat told The Associated Press this week that he has been in touch with Trump’s staff about the embassy issue. Barkat said his conversations have led him to believe that Trump is serious about making the move.
Meanwhile, a top Jewish settler leader said having Friedman in the post will provide settlers with “a welcome ear to hear what we want to say and a direct line to the American president.”
Friedman has previously suggested that Trump would support Israel annexing parts of the West Bank, anathema to longstanding American policy. Friedman has also served as president of American Friends of Bet El Institutions, which provides support for that settlement.
Oded Revivi, the chief foreign envoy of the Yesha Council, said Friedman has a “deep love for all of the land and people of Israel, including those in Judea and Samaria” — using the West Bank’s biblical names — and would offer a welcome change to decades of American envoys who viewed the settlements as an obstacle to peace.
Revivi noted that Beit El is a small settlement on the outside of the major blocs in the Israeli consensus, and said Friedman’s support for it was indicative of his overall support for the settler enterprise.
American ambassadors to Israel have traditionally avoided even visiting settlements.
8 responses to “Trump taps Israel envoy, eyes moving embassy to Jerusalem”
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Yes, the U.S. should continue to support Israel, our partner in democracy, that continues to suppress the Palestinians, the original people of the occupied territories.
Palestinians, the original people of the occupied territories? I suggest you study history and get your facts straight.
Sad..this is not in the best interest of Israel much less the USA. Trump the chump!
This will be among the many stu*id moves that Trump makes in office next year.
The Trump plan for Iran
If DEBKA is in truth-telling mode (and when they are, they have the best sources in the world), the outlook is for a lot of action on the Iran front this winter.
Here’s from DEBKA:
Rex Tillerson, Chairman an CEO of Exxon Mobil, was named this week as the next administration’s Secretary of State to execute the tough foreign policies charted by president-elect Donald Trump, including his decision to stiffen the nuclear accord signed with Iran as soon as he moves into the White House on Jan. 20.
debkafile reports this exclusively from New York and its intelligence sources.
While campaigning for the presidency, Trump called the accord “the worst deal” ever.
According to our sources, a special team is already working on revisions of the accord which the US and five other global powers concluded with Iran in 2015 in the hope of retarding Iran’s nuclear weapons program by a decade.
As new president, Trump will issue Tehran with a unilateral demand to accept those revisions as pre-condition for the continuation of relations between the US and Iran. He does not intend consulting America’s co-signers, Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France, or asking them for their endorsement of the revamped accord.
The teams preparing the Trump administration’s Iran policy were put in place last week by Tillerson and designated national security adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.
No members of the incumbent NSC, State Department, Pentagon or Treasury, who managed the Obama administration’s Iran policy, was invited to take part. The teams were instead chosen from among scientists, military leaders and intelligence officials who opposed the nuclear accord with Iran.
The Jews control the money and any politician who votes against the interests of Israel will find Israel doing everything possible to get them out of office. Israel gets billions from the US so, of course, they want to control as many politicians as possible. Stopping all the new settlements in occupied land should be the first step toward peace in that part of the world. We never had problems with the Arab world until 1948 when Israel took over Palestine.
So he basically just gave Hezbollah and the Iranians the middle finger. lol
Don’t worry America, we’ll get used to having a POTUS with huevos, it’s been a long time.
moving the embassy to Jerusalem will make the Palestinians mad good let them get mad its there fault this has to happen. come on SA and AP tell the whole story, where in the year 2000 Israel offered the Palestinians 100% of Gaza 100% of the West Bank and all of East Jerusalem as there capital city, all ruled by them not Israel if they would sign a treaty to stop terrorist attacks and recognize Israel as a right to exist in the middle east, Egypt and Jordan are the only 2 countries that recognized Israel. Arafat walked out on that proposal and began terrorist attacks on Israel. so the Palestinians don’t want peace they want Israel driven into the sea since 1948 so they had there chance and blew it.