EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Former Ambassador David Friedman: ‘Trump administration would have given Israel free reign to defend itself’

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was dispatched to Israel by U.S. President Joe Biden this week in the direct aftermath of an acute conflagration highlighted by 11 days of indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hamas on Israeli population centres and pinpoint Israeli airstrikes on Hamas installations in Gaza in retaliation. Read more

Friedman: Trump plan will not evict Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria

The U.S. administration will not call for the evacuation of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria under the much-anticipated Mideast peace plan, according to U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman on Wednesday. Read more

Rare event showcases potential of Israeli-Palestinian business cooperation

The Judea Samaria Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JSCOCI), an NGO that promotes Israeli-Palestinian commercial partnerships beyond the Green Line (the pre-1967 ceasefire line), held an event recently in the city of Ariel, an Israeli city in Samaria…writes Israel Kassnett. Read more

Ambassador Friedman: Hamas breaching the Gaza border a ‘suicide bomb on a large scale’

Speaking to a group of evangelical faith leaders that serve as informal advisers to U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said that moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem is part of a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make the world a better place”…writes Alex Traiman/JNS. Read more

Defining ‘occupied’ and the semantic battle for peace

In a demonstration of how completely at odds his views are from those of the foreign policy establishment, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman reportedly asked the State Department to stop using the term “occupied territories” and instead refer to the “West Bank.”…writes Jonathan S.Tobin/JNS.org. Read more

Trump names close adviser David Friedman as Israel envoy, signaling US policy shifts

President-elect Donald Trump named one of his close advisers, attorney David Friedman, as the next U.S. ambassador to Israel, in a move that likely signals a major shift in American policy on Jerusalem and Israeli settlements. Read more