Haaretz and COLlive
The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday 52-46 in favor of approving the appointment of David Friedman to be the next U.S. ambassador to Israel. The vote was divided almost completely in accordance with party lines.
Just half an hour before, lawmakers voted on a procedural motion to allow for the final vote with 52 senators in favor the motion and 46 opposed, the same division as seen in the final vote of approval.
Friedman, an observant Jew and bankruptcy attorney, was one of President Donald Trump’s principal advisors on the US-Israel relationship during his presidential campaign.
The son of an Orthodox rabbi, Friedman has been a fervent supporter of Israeli settlements, an opponent of Palestinian statehood and staunch defender of Israel’s government, AP reported.
He has been a generous philanthropist to Jewish causes, including various Chabad centers, United Hatzalah of Israel, and Aleh Negev in Israel, one of the world’s most advanced facilities for the care of severely disabled children.
A resident of the Five Towns in Long Island, NY, Friedman has been learning for close to 17 years on a regular basis with Rabbi Zalman Wolowik, Director of Chabad of the Five Towns in Cedarhurst, NY. Friedman has also been regularly attending the gala banquet of the International Kinus Hashluchim in New York.
Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel welcomes Friedman’s confirmation, saying that he would be received “with warmth and appreciation as President Trump’s representative and as a staunch friend of Israel.
