The Zionist Organization of America on Wednesday called on the Senate to confirm lawyer David Friedman as President Donald Trump's ambassador to Israel because he "will be a great credit to America and an upstanding representative of the American people."
Friedman, 58, a New York bankruptcy lawyer who was nominated by Trump in December, "is extraordinarily knowledgeable about the Middle East," ZOA President Morton Klein said, "and is the ideal nominee to restore and strengthen the vital U.S.-Israel alliance and the cause of real peace.
"Friedman's views reflect widely-held views of the American public at large, the Jewish-American public, Congress and our major American political parties," Klein said in a statement.
The son of an Orthodox rabbi, Friedman was educated at Columbia University and the New York University School of Law. He is a founding partner of the law firm Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, which he joined in 1994.
He has represented the Trump Organization when the president's Atlantic City casinos were in bankruptcy.
Klein slammed as "radical extremist groups" such liberal organizations as J Street and Partners for Progressive Israel for "trying to derail Mr. Friedman’s well-deserved nomination" and accused them of working to "defame Mr. Friedman — a pro-Israel, extraordinarily well-qualified Jew."
The groups have, among other things, supported the Obama administration's abstention in December of a U.N. Security Council vote condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Friedman, does not support the resolution — and he backs several other positions that are supported by Jews in America and Israel, Klein said.
These include moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and for building Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
In addition, Friedman supports a "realistic and flexible approach to achieving peace," Klein said.
"His view that there are a variety of potential approaches, and his view that the U.S. should not impose solutions on the parties, is widely shared.
"Effective negotiations, true diplomacy, real peace and a strong U.S.-Israel relationship require the open-minded, flexible approach of Ambassador-nominee Friedman," he said.
"Friedman's positions reflect those of the American people, American-Jews, Congress and common sense."
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