Anti-Palestinian Jewish attorney David Friedman sworn in as US envoy to Israel
byWatson Williams-
0
David Friedman is
sworn-in as the US ambassador to Israel during a ceremony in the Indian
Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the
White House, on March 29, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)
David Friedman, a strong
proponent of Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian
land, has been sworn in as the new US ambassador to the Tel Aviv regime.
US
Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath of office to Friedman
on Wednesday, about a week after the Senate confirmed his nomination in a
52-46 vote.
"One of the clearest signs of the president's
commitment to the state of Israel and to its people is in his choice of
David Friedman as America's Ambassador to Israel," Pence said, haling
Trump’s decision to nominate the anti-Palestinian Jewish American
attorney for the crucial diplomatic post.
Friedman, who once
served as Trump's bankruptcy lawyer, is critical of the two-state
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and supports Israel’s
illegal settlement activities on the occupied territories. The
58-year-old has also backed the idea of moving the US embassy from Tel
Aviv to East Jerusalem al-Quds. ‘Trump is a lifelong friend of Israel’
US
Vice President Mike Pence (L) administers the swearing-in ceremony for
David Friedman (C) as the US ambassador to Israel in the Indian Treaty
Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White
House, on March 29, 2017. (Photo by AFP)“The
president of the United States of America is a lifelong friend of Israel
and the Jewish people and, under his leadership, if the world knows
nothing else the world will know this: America stands with Israel,”
Pence said.
"This is a critical time for our two nations and our
peoples. The challenges we face are many, but our resolve to overcome
them has never been stronger," he stated.
“Under President Trump's
leadership, the United States will always be a faithful friend to the
Jewish State of Israel,” the VP added.
On Sunday, Pence told the
2017 AIPAC policy conference in Washington, DC, Trump is “serious” about
moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem al-Quds.
Trump's
rise has emboldened Israeli extremists to implement their illegal
policies and further their occupational agenda by transferring the
embassy, a move that Palestinian officials and prominent American
politicians have warned against.
Emboldened by the Trump
administration’s support, the regime in Tel Aviv has given the go-ahead
to the construction of many new settlement units.
Over half a
million Israelis live in over 230 settlements built illegally since the
1967 occupation of the Palestinian territories.
The presence and
continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestine has
created a major obstacle for the efforts to establish peace in the
Middle East. Pursuit of Palestinian state is ‘damaging anachronism’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laughs while chairing a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem al-Quds on March 26, 2017.During the 2016 presidential campaign, Friedman was Trump’s adviser on US-Israel relations.
Friedman,
a son of an Orthodox rabbi with no previous political experience, has
previously argued that the pursuit of a Palestinian state is a “damaging
anachronism.”
Some 600 American rabbis signed a letter last month against Friedman’s appointment as the US ambassador.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has welcomed Friedman's nomination.
He tweeted that Friedman "will be warmly welcomed as President Trump's
representative and as a close friend of Israel."