Roam Sigaev/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump will appoint right-wing hardliner David Friedman as the next US ambassador to Israel.
Friedman, 57, advised Trump throughout his campaign, and represented the President-elect in connection with his Atlantic City casino investments.
He is on record as being opposed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and supports the building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Friedman has also spoken in the past about his desire to move the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said according to BBC any moves to relocate the embassy or support settlements in the West Bank would lead to “chaos, lawlessness and extremism” in the area.
He expressed his hope that Donald Trump would not ultimately allow those things to occur.
“The United States at the end of the day is a country of institutions, and they are guided by their national interests,” Erekat said.
Reactions to Friedman’s nomination from the American Jewish community were mixed.
J Street, a liberal pro-Israel group, said according to BBC approving Friedman’s ambassadorship “should be beyond the pale for senators considering who should represent the United States in Israel.”
Friedman has clashed with liberal Jews in the past, saying those who support a two-state solution are worse than Jews who collaborated with the Nazis.
The right-wing Zionist Organization for America said Friedman “had the potential to be the greatest US ambassador to Israel ever.”
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