Radical appointed US amb. to Israel

Donald Trump’s pick for US ambassador to Israel David Friedman has now been confirmed.

Friedman, who previously worked for Trump as a bankruptcy lawyer, is a controversial appointment.

In the past he helped raise millions of dollars for a prominent West Bank settlement, and has called for the US embassy to be moved from Tel Aviv to al-Quds ('Jerusalem').

Here are some of his most provocative statements.

1. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has nothing to do with land

“This is not about battle about land. It's an ideological battle about whether there will be a Jewish state." (August 2016)

2. There is no such thing as a two-state solution

“There has never been a ‘two-state solution’ – only a ‘two-state narrative’.” (February 2016)

3. The US State Department’s two-state policy is grounded in anti-Semitism

“The US State Department – with a hundred-year history of anti-Semitism – promotes the payoff of corrupt Palestinians in exchange for their completely duplicitous agreement to support a two-state solution.” (August 2015)

4. Barack Obama is an anti-Semite.

“The blatant anti-Semitism emanating from our president and his sycophantic minions is palpable and very disturbing.”  (August 2015)

5. ...and Hillary Clinton is no friend either

“Hillary is no friend of Israel” (February 2016)

(and)

“IF HILLARY CLINTON IS ELECTED, THE PRO-ISRAEL AMERICAN JEWISH COMMUNITY IS GOING TO START TO FEEL A LOT LIKE THE JEWS OF FRANCE. [capital letters in original]” (October 2016)

6. Friedman supports more settlements.

“We should expand a community in Judea and Samaria where the land is legally available and a residential or commercial need is present.” (October 2015)

7. ...because removing settlers has echoes of Nazism

“The Palestinians want Israel to absorb countless 'refugees' - people who never lived in Israel and whose ancestors were never forced to leave Israel [not accurate] - while their so-called 'state' is required to be, as the Nazis said, Judenrein (devoid of Jews)… It is an entirely racist and anti-Semitic position…  the prime minister of Israel correctly observes that the Palestinian demand to remove all Jews from their ancestral homeland in Judea and Samaria is nothing short of an attempt at ethnic cleansing.” (September 2016)

8. He argues for permanent Israeli control of the West Bank

“…under most calculations, if you took the entire state of Israel, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea…if you annexed all of Judea and Samaria into Israel, the Jewish population would still be about 65 percent... If you study the numbers you’ll see that the whole idea that we have to jettison Judea and Samaria to retain the Jewish characteristics of Israel is just not true.” (September 2016)

9. US pressure of any kind is a threat to Israel

“A strong Israel untethered to American pressure is essential to Israel's ongoing survival." (August 2016)