Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Thu Dec 15, 2016, 09:13 PM Dec 2016

Trump taps adviser David Friedman for ambassador to Israel

Source: The Hill

BY MARK HENSCH - 12/15/16 06:49 PM EST

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday announced his pick of adviser David Friedman to be U.S. ambassador to Israel.

"The bond between Israel and the United States runs deep, and I will ensure there is no daylight between us when I’m president,” Trump said in a statement, saying Friedman would "maintain the special relationship between our two countries.”

“He has been a long-time friend and trusted adviser to me,” Trump added of Friedman, an attorney who is also a co-chair on Trump’s Israel advisory committee.

“His strong relationships in Israel will form the foundation of his diplomatic mission and be a tremendous asset to our country as we strengthen the ties to our allies and strive for peace in the Middle East," Trump continued."Nothing is more critical than protecting the security of our citizens at home and abroad.”

-snip-

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/310673-trump-taps-us-ambassador-to-israel

20 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Trump taps adviser David Friedman for ambassador to Israel (Original Post) DonViejo Dec 2016 OP
Just for chucks, I googled "David Friedman" + Russia, and up popped this little billet doux. LisaM Dec 2016 #1
Friedman sounds like a total ass RussBLib Dec 2016 #13
Not surprised. He thinks they're all about money. Spitfire of ATJ Dec 2016 #2
Martin Bormann wasn't available? NT mahatmakanejeeves Dec 2016 #3
Don't try to tell me the shithead wrote that hisownself! pangaia Dec 2016 #4
Exactly what I squinted my eyes at, pangaia! JudyM Dec 2016 #6
he said he looked forward to taking up his post in Jerusalem. Mosby Dec 2016 #5
A horrible choice leftynyc Dec 2016 #7
I agree, but sure to be grist for the mill for a certain sect. Behind the Aegis Dec 2016 #8
I couldn't agree more leftynyc Dec 2016 #9
He was Trump's bankruptcy lawyer TubbersUK Dec 2016 #10
"makes Benjamin Netanyahu seem like a left-wing defeatist" muriel_volestrangler Dec 2016 #11
Removes Netanyahu's excuse for not annexing the West Bank via an orgy of settlement construction geek tragedy Dec 2016 #12
Bizarre that you think the end of the two-state solution would be considered "the bright side" oberliner Dec 2016 #14
Two-state solution died years ago. geek tragedy Dec 2016 #16
What is it exactly that you would like to see happen? oberliner Dec 2016 #17
I don't waste time thinking about what I want to happen in the Middle East. geek tragedy Dec 2016 #18
What steps should our government take that would be in our best interests? oberliner Dec 2016 #19
Step 1 is to stop making the same mistake over and over. geek tragedy Dec 2016 #20
Hard times call forth hard men. GliderGuider Dec 2016 #15

Mosby

(16,162 posts)
5. he said he looked forward to taking up his post in Jerusalem.
Thu Dec 15, 2016, 10:03 PM
Dec 2016

If they follow through with that the Muslim world is going to collectively lose their shit.

 

leftynyc

(26,060 posts)
7. A horrible choice
Fri Dec 16, 2016, 06:44 AM
Dec 2016

Probably made to offset the worries about tillerson's (I think I have that name right-appointee for SOS) very close ties to oil producing Arab countries.

Behind the Aegis

(53,831 posts)
8. I agree, but sure to be grist for the mill for a certain sect.
Fri Dec 16, 2016, 06:47 AM
Dec 2016

It only further demonstrates the president-elect as a know-nothing shithead who is not the least bit interested in this country, much less another one (except maybe Russia), who is sending our country on a very dangerous path.

 

leftynyc

(26,060 posts)
9. I couldn't agree more
Fri Dec 16, 2016, 06:50 AM
Dec 2016

but there is no "maybe" when it comes to his kowtowing to putin. Every single pick has confirmed it and I suspect he owes hundreds of millions to russian banks or vlad has something on video and has degenerate donnie by the short hairs.

TubbersUK

(1,439 posts)
10. He was Trump's bankruptcy lawyer
Fri Dec 16, 2016, 07:01 AM
Dec 2016
Donald Trump has named a bankruptcy lawyer who represented the president-elect over his failing hotels in Atlantic City, as the new US ambassador to Israel.

Friedman represented Trump after Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc, the umbrella company for his three Atlantic City casinos, when into bankruptcy in 2009.


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/15/trump-israel-ambassador-david-friedman

muriel_volestrangler

(101,150 posts)
11. "makes Benjamin Netanyahu seem like a left-wing defeatist"
Fri Dec 16, 2016, 10:50 AM
Dec 2016
The Worst of the Worst

I have seen David Friedman, Donald Trump's nominee to be the next US Ambassador to Israel, described in the mainstream press as a supporter of settlement expansion. The analogies that readily spring to mind are too coarse for me to repeat. Let's say this is a wild understatement. Friedman represents the extremes of the most vicious and destructive elements of rightist Zionism and the indeed the most radical elements of American Jewry.

Chemi Shalev captures the essence here.

By Israeli standards, Donald Trump’s designated Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, is an extreme right-winger. He might find a place in the settler movement or with Naftali Bennett’s Habayit Hayehudi Party, but only on its right-wing fringes. He makes Benjamin Netanyahu seem like a left-wing defeatist. From where Friedman stands, most Israelis, never mind most American Jews, are more or less traitors.

Friedman has repeatedly attacked J Street, the pro-Israel, pro-Peace group, and its members as worse than the Jewish collaborators who served the Nazis during the Holocaust.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-worst-of-the-worst


 

geek tragedy

(68,868 posts)
12. Removes Netanyahu's excuse for not annexing the West Bank via an orgy of settlement construction
Fri Dec 16, 2016, 12:17 PM
Dec 2016

In the past he's cited US pressure in order to deny permits etc. Without that excuse he'll have no choice but to give in to Bennett et al and greenlight every WB construction permit.

Bright side is that maybe people will stop pretending that the two-state solution is still a thing.

 

oberliner

(58,724 posts)
14. Bizarre that you think the end of the two-state solution would be considered "the bright side"
Sat Dec 17, 2016, 09:37 AM
Dec 2016

What is it exactly that you would like to see happen?

 

oberliner

(58,724 posts)
17. What is it exactly that you would like to see happen?
Mon Dec 19, 2016, 11:31 AM
Dec 2016

I am curious, in all sincerity, to know what your vision would be.

 

geek tragedy

(68,868 posts)
18. I don't waste time thinking about what I want to happen in the Middle East.
Mon Dec 19, 2016, 06:11 PM
Dec 2016

That land is ruled by fate, not hope.

What I want is our government to act in our best interests, and to behave constructively to ensure that the human beings in the area do as well as possible.

 

oberliner

(58,724 posts)
19. What steps should our government take that would be in our best interests?
Mon Dec 19, 2016, 06:24 PM
Dec 2016

What constructive steps could the US take to ensure that the human beings in the area do as well as possible?

 

geek tragedy

(68,868 posts)
20. Step 1 is to stop making the same mistake over and over.
Mon Dec 19, 2016, 06:30 PM
Dec 2016

Stop wasting time and political capital on the two-state solution. Focus instead on democratic values and the best path forward for a binational state that will serve as a homeland to both peoples.

 

GliderGuider

(21,088 posts)
15. Hard times call forth hard men.
Sat Dec 17, 2016, 12:39 PM
Dec 2016

These developments are exactly what I've been expecting for a decade. Don't expect the situation to improve. Increasing confusion and chaos will attend and propel the drain-ward spiral of global civilization from here on. Trump and his autocratic cronies are just symptoms of the process. If they go away, their vacuum will be filled by others.

It's just the eschaton, folks.

Latest Discussions»Latest Breaking News»Trump taps adviser David ...