Good News for Israel from Trump Transition Team

Extremely pro-Israel David Friedman has been named as Trump's United States Ambassador to Israel.

David Friedman with Donald Trump in Manhattan. (photo credit:Courtesy) (Jerusalem Post)

Many of us can now breathe a sigh of relief, since Friedman is the sort of American we trust as a friend of the State of Israel and Jewish rights to live here.

“I am deeply honored and humbled by the confidence placed in me by President-elect Trump to represent the United States as its ambassador to Israel,” Friedman said in statement on Thursday. “I intend to work tirelessly to strengthen the unbreakable bond between our two countries and advance the cause of peace within the region, and look forward to doing this from the US embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.”
Friedman — a founding partner of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP — was referring to Trump’s campaign promise to move the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. (Algemeiner)

Friedman, who had also been a longtime Arutz Sheva contributor, spoke out in favor of Israel numerous times during the campaign and highlighted Trump’s pro-Israel stance.
In May, Friedman told Arutz Sheva in an exclusive interview that Trump believes “that Israel should continue to build settlements. This is land that Israel has held for almost 50 years. The population of Judea and Samaria is 400,000 people. You add in East Jerusalem you have almost a million people. These people aren’t going anywhere and Israel’s not going to make the same mistake that it made in connection with the evacuation of Gaza.” (Arutz 7)

No surprise that the Jerusalem Post's article included criticism of the appointment:

"J Street is vehemently opposed to the nomination of David Friedman to be ambassador to Israel," the organization said in a statement.
At a policy forum on Israel this month hosted by the Brookings Institution, Friedman offered choice words for J Street, an organization primarily focused on promoting a two-state solution. He questioned their commitment to Israel and their representation of Jewish causes, according to several attendees of the summit.

The National Jewish Democratic council took it a step further. "There has never been a less experienced pick for US ambassador to Israel," they tweeted on Thursday night, and added that Donald Trump "is not taking the US-Israel relationship seriously. Friedman not experienced enough to be" ambassador.  (Jerusalem Post)

This decision by President-Elect Donald Trump further strengthens our relief that the Democrats won't be in power the next few years.