US Senate approves settlement backer as Israel envoy

At a confirmation hearing last month, David Friedman apologised for past undiplomatic declarations, and the US senate approved his appointment by a margin of 52 to 46.

David Friedman has been confirmed as the US ambassador to Israel. Tom Williams / Getty Images / February 16, 2017

WASHINGTON // The US senate has approved the appointment of President Donald Trump’s former bankruptcy lawyer, a supporter of Israeli settlement building, as Washington’s ambassador to Israel.

Mr Trump’s choice of 58-year-old David Friedman, a man with a history of undiplomatic declarations, had raised concerns about America’s commitment to a two-state Middle East peace deal.

But at a confirmation hearing last month, Mr Friedman apologised for the harsh language he has used in the past and the senate has now approved his appointment by a margin of 52 to 46.

Mr Trump’s administration has been slow to appoint new ambassadors to replace those who stepped down at the end of former president Barack Obama’s term. More than 70 posts remain open.

But the Israel job was seen as a key indicator of the new administration’s attitude to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Mr Friedman’s nomination was welcomed by the Israeli right.

Before becoming the ambassadorial nominee, Mr Friedman was known as a vocal supporter of Israeli causes, including the building of settlements on Palestinian land in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

He clashed with American Jewish progressive groups, notably dubbing liberals “worse than kapos,” - a reference to Jewish collaborators who worked as guards in Nazi prison camps.

And he is widely seen as hostile to the two-state solution — the vision of an end to the conflict in which Israel and a future Palestine live side-by-side within agreed borders.

Mr Trump’s administration insists it might support this idea if Israel comes to a deal, but has clearly softened the Obama administration’s tough criticism of Israeli settlements.

Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein voted against Friedman and dubbed him “too divisive to serve in one of our nation’s most sensitive diplomatic positions.”

And the liberal Jewish lobby group J Street said it was “heartened” that the level of opposition to Friedman’s confirmation showed that his views were outside the US mainstream.

But the Republican Jewish Coalition welcomed the vote, arguing “there is no question that the relationship between the US and Israel will grow stronger.”

* Agence France-Presse