Senate confirms David Friedman as U.S. ambassador to Israel, with little Democratic support
By Karoun Demirjian March 23 at 3:35 PM
The Senate on Thursday confirmed David M. Friedman to be the next ambassador to Israel, making him the first of President Trump’s selected foreign emissaries to take his post.
Friedman earned the support of only two Democrats in the 52-to-46 vote: Sens. Robert Menendez (N.J.) and Joe Manchin III (W.Va.). No Republicans opposed him.
Republican support for Friedman was a sure thing despite a rocky confirmation hearing last month, punctuated not only by protesters critical of his statements opposing a Palestinian state and supporting Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but also by Democratic senators concerned about the harsh rhetoric he has used to attack politicians whose Israel policy differs from his.
Benjamin L. Cardin (Md.), the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said earlier this month that he would vote against Friedman’s nomination because of Friedman’s practice of accusing his political opponents of anti-Semitism and a lack of support for Israel, as well as Friedman’s stated disdain for the two-state, solution-driven Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Other prominent Jewish Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), voted against Friedman’s confirmation as well.
“Mr. Friedman takes extreme positions that will move the two parties further from peace,” Feinstein said in a statement Thursday, adding that Friedman was “far too divisive to serve in one of our nation’s most sensitive diplomatic positions.”
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/03/23/senate-confirms-david-friedman-as-ambassador-to-israel-with-little-democratic-support/?utm_term=.aaf359992e98&wpisrc=nl_politics&wpmm=1
