Friedman recalls close connection to Trump as days in post draw to close
Speaking to Trump weekly and meeting monthly gave Friedman unparalleled power as an ambassador.
By TOBIAS SIEGALPRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman attend Wednesday’s ceremony in Ariel that extended Israel-US scientific cooperation agreement in West Bank and Golan Heights.(photo credit: EMIL SALMAN/REUTERS)
Nearing the end of his post, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman gave an interview to The New York Times (NYT) and explained how he managed to become one of the most influential American ambassadors to Israel.Friedman attributed his success and unwavering determination to two notions: the “deep knowledge” he said he had on the issues and the “very strong views” he came with from home. But more than anything, Friedman said, his ability to create a difference was because of his relation to US President Donald Trump. “I’m close to the boss,” he shared.Speaking to Trump weekly and meeting monthly gave Friedman unparalleled power as an ambassador, he said, which he directed toward trying to lower the expectations of Palestinians and reach some kind of agreement between the PA and Israel.But according to Jared Kushner, who oversaw the White House Middle East special team, it was Friedman who “set a very ambitious agenda” regarding American involvement in the Middle East and Israel specifically. “Quite frankly, toward the end, we were almost running out of things to accomplish, because David had gotten done so many things that were unthinkable,” Kushner said.Among the notable actions carried out by the Trump administration and by Friedman as its emissary to Israel, were the official recognition of Jerusalem as the capital city of the State of Israel and moving the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv – shifting decades of unhinged American policy on the matter. Friedman also changed the prevailing American policy towards West Bank Jewish settlements, legitimizing them by declaring them a part of Israel. To that end, he erased the use of the word “occupied” in the context of West Bank settlements in US State Department documents.Accordingly, Friedman reflected perhaps the least favorable US administration for the Palestinian Authority ever. Some of the actions carried out by the US during Friedman’s term were halting all American financial aid to the PA, banishing Palestinian emissaries from Washington and regularly criticizing Palestinian leaders.Even his opposers agree that Friedman’s impact on the US-Israel relations and on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in recent years has been significant. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas referred to him as a “son of a dog” and refused to meet him.Several Jewish organizations in Israel and abroad even claimed that he was trying to eliminate the possibility of reaching a two-state solution with the Palestinians.Friedman expressed satisfaction in everything he managed to accomplish in a relatively short time, noting that his legacy is here to stay.“There’s no going back on what we’ve been able to do,” he said. “I’m frankly somewhere between addicted and intoxicated with what I’ve been able to do, and how much joy it gives me ... “We’ve changed the narrative dramatically.”And most people agree with him, even if they do not agree with his agenda.“David Friedman has every reason to be patting himself on the back,” Lara Friedman, head of the Foundation for Middle East Peace and a critic of Friedman, said. She referred to the fact that several officials who have traditionally advocated against Israeli settlements and against Trump’s policies in the Middle East as a whole have recently suggested that President-elect Joe Biden tolerate or accept certain settlements in the West Bank. She attributed the shift to Friedman.REGARDING THE talk of possible annexation of West Bank settlements by Israel, Friedman said that he felt “elated” that Israel signed normalization deals with four Muslim countries instead, but noted that annexation is still on the table. He said that he hoped Israel would “continue a process that, hopefully, we’ve been helpful in starting, of determining internally – forget about the rest of the world – what its eastern border should be.”According to Friedman, the PA has historically received the power of veto on the entire process of negotiations with Israel. He noted that previous US administrations have struggled to simply convince Palestinians to return to the bargaining table. This, he explained, encouraged the PA to adopt unreasonable demands for years to come.His job then, as he sees it, and the thing that the White House did best was to inject “a tremendously needed dose of realism into the Palestinian psyche about what’s achievable and what’s not.”Obviously, Friedman faced quite a bit of criticism over the years. Head of the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington until it was shut down, Husam Zomlot told the Times that Friedman was “the American mob in our Capitol,” and argued that in reality “the Biden administration will have to wipe the floor of US-Palestinian relations and the peace process completely clean.”However, his critics haven’t deterred him yet, and it doesn’t seem like they will change his opinion on the matter any time soon.An advocate for allowing Israel to make its own decisions, rather than caving to international pressure, Friedman said: “A flood of refugees into Israel? Never going to happen ... Dividing Jerusalem? It’s just never going to happen. Israel giving up certain parts of its biblical heartland? Never going to happen.”Finally, addressing his own future, Friedman said that he plans on dividing his time between his homes in Jerusalem, New York and Florida, while carefully considering his political future. “I want to give myself every opportunity to return to government,” he concluded.
