What Others are Saying — Members of Congress
Senators
Senator Sherrod Brown (Full Statement): In a statement, Senator Brown said, “Mr. Friedman’s past comments, temperament, and lack of experience give me serious doubts that he can fulfill America’s commitment to Israel’s security and values.”
Senator Cory Booker (Full Statement): In a statement following his vote against David Friedman in the SFRC, Senator Booker wrote: “Mr. Friedman has a long history of making degrading and incendiary comments, and attacking seemingly anyone who disagrees with him. Such a track record would critically wound anyone’s ability to fulfill their duties as an ambassador, but even more so in this position, one of our nation’s most sensitive and important diplomatic posts which demands the highest standard of diplomatic ability.”
Senator Ben Cardin (Full Statement): In a statement, Senator Cardin wrote, “Following extensive consideration of Mr. Friedman’s record and taking into account his statements during his nomination hearing, I have concluded that his past record would make it very difficult for him to serve as that unifying force. For that reason, I am unable to support his nomination as America’s top diplomat in Israel.”
Senator Chris Coons (Full Statement): “I do not believe Mr. Friedman will be able to earn, or keep, the broad confidence of the American or Israeli people, which is vital to bring together all sides of the impassioned debates in the United States and Israel.”
Senator Tammy Duckworth (Full Statement): In an interview with Jewish Insider, Senator Duckworth said of Friedman: “I’m deeply concerned about his nomination. His past comments have been pretty incendiary, and I don’t think he would help with any type of movement towards reconciliation and a two state solution.”
Senator Dianne Feinstein (Full Statement): In an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle titled “David Friedman unfit to be ambassador to Israel,” Senator Feinstein wrote: “We need an ambassador who will bridge the divide between Israelis and Palestinians, not make it worse.”
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (Full Statement): A spokesperson said Senator Gillibrand, “has serious concerns about David Friedman’s nomination…”
Senator Martin Heinrich (Full Statement): In a USA Today op-ed, Senators Feinstein and Heinrich wrote, “…President Trump’s nominee to be the ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has been a benefactor of Israeli settlement expansion and has demonstrated an openly hostile attitude to a two-state solution. These Israeli actions and Friedman’s views are not helpful to Israel, to the peace process, or to the national security of the United States.”
Senator Tim Kaine (Full Statement): “The U.S. Ambassador to Israel serves as the steward of this vital relationship in a volatile part of the world and must be able to engage effectively with representatives across Israeli society, promote dialogue, and demonstrate respect for different views. While it is clear that David Friedman is committed to the U.S.-Israel relationship, his history of inflammatory rhetoric is poorly matched for this role.”
Senator Patrick Leahy (Full Statement): “These statements and actions not only indicate his rejection of decades of bipartisan policy; they are the words of someone who makes a mockery of the term “diplomat” and who has demonstrated no ability to be objective and constructive on sensitive issues of immense importance to U.S. security.”
Senator Ed Markey (Full Statement): Following his vote against Friedman in the SFRC, Senator Markey wrote: “I am deeply concerned about President Donald Trump’s nomination of Mr. David Friedman to be the U.S. Ambassador to Israel. Mr. Friedman has made offensive remarks comparing “liberal” Jews to Nazi collaborators. He accused President Barack Obama of making anti-Semitic statements. He has supported the expansion of settlement construction. Most alarmingly, he has disparaged the two-state solution.”
Senator Chris Murphy (Full Statement): After Friedman’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Murphy told reporters, “It’s hard to understand how somebody renounces so many controversial positions and statements on the eve of their [committee] vote. I appreciate his contrition, but the volume of his over-the-top statements are still hard to ignore.”
Senator Chris Van Hollen (Full Statement): In an interview with Jewish Insider, Senator Van Hollen said of David Friedman: “At this moment, I do not intend to support his nomination… His record clearly indicates that he is not in the bipartisan tradition of seeking out the two state solution. He is much more an advocate for some kind of one state solution. I think his views are so far out of the bipartisan mainstream.”
Sen. Tom Udall (Full Statement): During Friedman’s confirmation vote in the SFRC,Senator Udall stated: “I do not believe this committee has ever considered a nominee who is both so extreme in policy views and has been so un-diplomatic with sustained, deliberate, offensive rhetoric.”
Representatives
Rep. Yvette Clarke (Full Statement): “I oppose this ill-conceived nomination and call upon my colleagues in the United States Senate to oppose Mr. Friedman’s confirmation.”
Rep. Steve Cohen (Full Statement): Tweeted that Friedman is “Dangerous for 2-state solution & peace for #Israel.”
Rep. Gerry Connolly (Full Statement): Tweeted that Friedman is “a bigot” whose nomination “is an affront to US policies on settlements and a two-state solution.”
Rep. Joe Kennedy III (Full Statement): Tweeted that Friedman’s “one statement of regret won’t paint over his record” of using “actions and words to undermine peace…”
Rep Barbara Lee (Full Statement): Tweeted that she is: “Troubled by Trump’s choice of David Friedman as US Amb to Israel. His radical views threaten longstanding US polices like a 2-state solution.”
Rep. Alan Lowenthal (Full Statement): Posted on Facebook that Friedman is “an unacceptable choice” who “does damage to our credibility and makes peace more difficult.”
Rep. Gwen Moore (Full Statement): Said in a statement, “From his blind support for settlements in the West Bank and flagrant opposition to a two-state solution to his unconscionable and frighteningly casual use of holocaust imagery to vilify progressive American Jews, Mr. Friedman lacks the experience and temperament necessary to serve as our nation’s ambassador to Israel.”
Rep. Jerry Nadler (Full Statement): Said in a statement, “Mr. Friedman’s radical hardline positions place him far outside the mainstream of both American and Israeli policy, and of American Jewry…Mr. Friedman’s views break with one of the fundamental building blocks of U.S. and Israeli policy, jeopardizing the U.S.-Israel relationship going forward.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (Full statement): Wrote in an op-ed, “The confirmation of David Friedman as ambassador to Israel would be bad news not only for Israel and the Palestinians, but for solidarity and civility in the American Jewish community.”
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Full Statement): Posted on her website, “David Friedman is wholly unfit and completely unqualified to serve as our country’s ambassador to Israel…His appointment would make a very dangerous situation even worse.”
Rep. Brad Sherman (Full Statement): Told an interviewer, “What we don’t need is someone playing a foreigner’s role in Israeli politics, trying to egg on Israel into a belief that somehow they can announce to the world that they are permanently going to govern millions of Palestinians but somehow not let them vote.”
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Full Statement): Said in a statement, “If the United States truly seeks a lasting peace in the Middle East, President Trump’s choice to be our country’s next envoy to Israel is the wrong man. David Friedman will bring only a lengthy record of conflict and provocation to the job.”
Rep. Adam Smith (Full Statement): “While it is the Senate’s choice whether to confirm Mr. Friedman, I believe our nation would be better served if President Trump nominated a proven diplomat, fully committed to Israel’s security as a democratic and Jewish state and a two-state solution.”
Rep. John Yarmuth (Full Statement): Posted to Facebook, “Donald Trump’s appointment of David Friedman as U.S. Ambassador to Israel is totally out of step with longstanding, bipartisan US foreign policy.”
Association of Reform Zionists of America
Central Conference of American Rabbis
Union for Reform Judaism
