US man for Israel riles Palestinians

Trump team wary on embassy move

JERUSALEM // President- elect Donald Trump’s choice for US ambassador to Israel supports settlements on the occupied West Bank and questions the “two-state” solution to conflict with the Palestinians.

Should anyone be in any doubt about his views, would-be ambassador David Friedman nailed his colours to the mast when he said he looked forward to carrying out his duties from the American embassy “in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem”.

But the Trump team said yes- terday it was too soon to say when the president-elect would make good on his controversial campaign promise to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The move would be a politically charged act guaranteed to enrage the Palestinians, who claim East Jerusalem as part of their sovereign territory, and would also be at odds with most of America’s allies in western Europe and the Arab world.

Nor does the nomination of Mr Friedman, 57, a longtime friend of Mr Trump, have universal approval among Jews. Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a liberal Jewish group, said it was reckless and would damage US credibility in the region.

The left- wing Israeli daily Haaretz said Mr Friedman “makes (prime minister) Benjamin Netanyahu seem like a leftwing defeatist”.

The remark about the embassy angered Palestinians.

Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the politics committee of the Palestinian Legislative Council and a supporter of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, said: “He’s exceeding his mandate as ambassador and expressing his sentiment as a Zionist supporter of the rightist government of Israel and that’s not diplomacy.”

However, Mr Netanyahu yesterday welcomed Mr Trump’s choice for ambassador.

A source in his office said the premier was “pleased” with the appointment.

Mr Friedman, a lawyer, served as an adviser on Israel to Mr Trump during the election campaign. In policy papers, he said the two-state solution is “not a priority”.

On settlements, Mr Friedman said Mr Trump would “not dictate to Israel where it can and cannot build”. How Mr Trump would honour the pledge to shift the embassy from Tel Aviv is unclear but one option would involve the ambassador working out of a consulate in Jerusalem. “Moving the embassy would be a deviation from the policy of every country because no coun- try recognises Israel’s presence in West Jerusalem, let alone the united city of Jerusalem,” said Mr Abdullah. “All international resolutions don’t recognise Israeli sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem. If America wants to change that, it will have to bear the consequences. It won’t be business as usual.”