Labels: American Jewish indifference to Israel, American Jewish leadership, American Jewish support for Israel, American Jews, David Friedman, Donald Trump, liberal Jews
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:12 PM
0 comments
Labels: David Friedman, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, two-state solution, United States Senate
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:50 PM
0 comments
As the Senate holds a confirmation hearing Thursday on the nomination of David Friedman, he could face grilling about his ties to Beit El, a community north of Jerusalem located in the heart of the occupied territory Palestinians demand for an independent state.
A bankruptcy attorney from the Five Towns area of Long Island, Friedman is a major donor to Beit El and serves as the president of the American Friends of Beit El Yeshiva, the U.S. fundraising arm of the settlement’s Jewish seminary and affiliated institutions, including high schools, an Israeli military prep academy, a newspaper for the religious Jewish settler community and the right-wing news site Arutz Sheva.They make the entire town sound like shnorrers (beggars). In fact, the 'American Friends' setup is entirely legal - nearly every school in Israel that raises money in the US has one in order for donors to qualify for 501(c)(3) deductions. Each of the other institutions likely has its own 'American Friends' with the likely exception of Arutz Sheva, which the last time I checked was a commercial venture.
But even by Trump’s new standards, Friedman appears to be extreme. Friedman is a fervent supporter of the settlements and an outspoken opponent of Palestinian statehood.
“I have expressed my skepticism about two-state state solutions because of what I perceive as the Palestinians inability to denounce terrorism and recognize Israel as a legitimate state,” Friedman said.If that's 'extreme,' I don't many Orthodox Jews in the United States or Israel who aren't extremists.
In Beit El, the Friedman Faculty House, which bears his and his wife’s names on the facade, is built on private Palestinian land without permission from its Palestinian landowners, according to the anti-settlement watchdog Kerem Navot.And now CBS is accepting claims by Israel's Hebrew 'Palestinian' daily as 'facts.' Prove it.
Labels: Beit El, David Friedman, Donald Trump, Judea and Samaria, Orthodox Jews
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:10 PM
1 comments
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, David Friedman, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Jerusalem, Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act, Messiah's times
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:26 PM
5 comments
“Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish state of Israel, and that's where America's embassy belongs,” Rubio said in a statement. “It's time for Congress and the President-Elect to eliminate the loophole that has allowed presidents in both parties to ignore U.S. law and delay our embassy's rightful relocation to Jerusalem for over two decades.”
A statement from Heller said that some State Department funds would be withheld until the embassy was relocated.
The GOP measure is in line with President-elect Donald Trump's support for moving the embassy. His pick for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, also supports that pledge.
...
“Jerusalem is the eternal and undivided capital of Israel,” Ted Cruz said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the Obama administration's vendetta against the Jewish state has been so vicious that to even utter this simple truth – let alone the reality that Jerusalem is the appropriate venue for the American embassy in Israel — is shocking in some circles.And that's the best part: Once this bill makes its way through Congress and lands on the President's desk, the President will be Donald Trump, and not the Jew-hating mamzer who currently occupies the White House.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, David Friedman, Dean Heller, Donald Trump, Jerusalem Embassy Act, Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:55 AM
1 comments
The Trump team has said that the US president-elect considers moving the embassy a "very big priority."Longstanding US policy has also been to veto all anti-Israel resolutions in the Security Council, and not to let them pass, let alone orchestrate their passage. This is the best response of all to Obama's and Kerry's betrayal of Israel.
Throughout his campaign for the presidency, Trump repeatedly said he would move the US Embassy if elected – a political promise past US presidents have frequently made, yet has never been held.
Longstanding US policy is to treat the status of Jerusalem as an issue to be settled in final-status negotiations with the Palestinians.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, David Friedman, Donald Trump, intifadeh, Jerusalem Embassy Act, John Kerry, Palestinians, US embassy in Tel Aviv
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:18 PM
0 comments
Israeli government ministers and political figures are pushing the US president-elect, Donald Trump, to quickly fulfill his campaign promise to overturn decades of US foreign policy and recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv.
Their calls came as one of Trump advisers on Israel and the Middle East, David Friedman, told the Jerusalem Post that Trump would follow through on his promise.
‘It was a campaign promise and there is every intention to keep it,” Friedman said. ‘We are going to see a very different relationship between America and Israel in a positive way.”Trump has also promised to 'tear up' the nuclear deal with Iran (which I cannot quite see him doing, although I do see him reimposing sanctions if there continues to be evidence that Iran is developing ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons), and has invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to the White House, calling Israel a close friend.
Trump’s election was quickly welcomed by Netanyahu who, but the Israeli president steered clear of controversial issues, only congratulating Trump and calling him a “true friend” of Israel while pledging to work with him on security and peace in the region.
Netanyahu later released a video on YouTube welcoming Trump’s appointment.
“President-elect Trump is a true friend of the state of Israel,” said Netanyahu in a statement. “We will work together to advance the security, stability and peace in our region. The strong connection between the United States and Israel is based on shared values, shared interests and a shared destiny.
Indeed, there are many reasons for Israelis to be pleased by Trump's election.
“I’m certain that President-elect Trump and I will continue to strengthen the unique alliance between Israel and the United States, and bring it to new heights,” he added.
A Trump administration will be far more favourable to the Jewish state, another of the president-elect’s advisers on Israel has said.
Shmuel Rosner, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, said a Trump administration is likely to be “much more understanding if Israel has to use force in order to tamp down Palestinian violence”.
He also said he felt the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be “much less of a priority, and when it’s not a priority, this means that Israel in some ways gets off the hook”.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas congratulated Trump and said he hoped peace could be achieved during his term based on the two-state solution.
“We are ready to deal with the elected president on the basis of a two-state solution and to establish a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders,” spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP, referring to the year when Israel seized the West Bank.I didn't know that Rosner was advising Trump. That's interesting in itself.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, David Friedman, Donald Trump, Jerusalem Embassy Act, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, Palestinian state, Shmuel Rosner
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:52 PM
5 comments
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
Like what you see? Please hit my tip box below!
Jerusalem |
 |
 |
