Haaretz newspaper said that the US Senate foreign relations committee voted unanimously on Thursday for the nomination of David Friedman a vociferous supporter of Israeli settlements and a long-time associate of president Donald Trump as the next ambassador to Israel.
Eleven Republican senators and one Democrat voted for Friedman. Nine democrats voted against the nomination.
According to Haaretz it was the first time such noticeable Senate division happened on the nomination of a US ambassador to Israel.
Afterwards Friedman’s nomination has to be tabled for a vote on the Senate floor.
Although a date for a vote has not been scheduled it is almost certain that Friedman will be approved since Republicans have a larger majority on the floor than in the committee the newspaper expressed its belief.
Friedman is notorious for challenging the widespread international view that Israeli settlement activity is illegal and opposing a ban on settlement construction activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem particularly those places that could be part of a future agreement involving land swaps between the Palestinians and Israelis.
Friedman is the head of American Friends of Bet El Institution an organization that raises several million dollars a year for projects in Bet El settlement. Plaques carrying Friedman’s name and those of other family members appear on buildings in the settlement including a school built illegally on private Palestinian land. He also gave money to settle Jews in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Occupied Jerusalem.
