BREAKING: David Friedman Confirmed As New U.S. Ambassador To Israel

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The Senate has confirmed David Friedman as U.S. ambassador to Israel in a 52-46 vote that went almost entirely along party lines.

This comes after the Foreign Relations Committee voted on March 9th to approve his nomination.

In the Foreign Relations Committee hearing, every Republican senator on the committee voted in favor of Friedman and one Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) broke ranks with his fellow Democrats and voted for Friedman.

David Friedman, left, with Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump, in Camden, New Jersey, Feb. 25, 2010.Bradley C. Bower / Bloomberg

Friedman has  a long confirmation hearing before the committee six  weeks ago, in which he faced a lot of contention from anti-Israel activists in the audience.

One activist blew into a shofar and was  heard saying before being escorted out of the room, the Times of Israel reported. Earlier, a protester held up Palestinian flags and chanted, “We were there, we are there, and we will always be in Palestine.”

Senator Tom Udall was strongly opposed to Friedman being confirmed saying “You have slandered President Barack Obama” by saying .. “the blatant anti-Semitism emanating from our president and his sycophantic minions.” Udall also mentioned that Friedman once said about the ADL that “frankly, they sound like morons.”

In his remarks, Friedman apologized for some of the inflammatory statements he has made in the past, including accusing former President Barack Obama of anti-Semitism and calling supporters of the liberal Jewish lobby J Street “kapos,” the term for Jews who cooperated with Nazis during the Holocaust.

“Some of the language that I used during the highly charged presidential campaign that ended last November has come in for criticism and rightfully so,” Friedman said. “While I maintain profound differences of opinion with some of my critics, I regret the use of such language.”

The nomination will now move on to a vote on the full Senate floor.
Democrats Tim Kaine, Corey Booker and Tom Udall voted against Friedman.

Former VP nominee Tim Kaine ” Friedman knows a lot about the region..but is undiplomatic and made wrong and false statements”

Friedman, is considered to be “more to the right that Netanyahu” is Trump’s former real estate & bankruptcy lawyer. Friedman is an Orthodox Jew who is a member of the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst and lives in Woodmere, NY. Friedman has been married for  35 years to Tammy Sand of Miami Beach, Florida. They also own a home in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Talbiyeh, where they spend the Jewish holidays along with their children and grandchildren twice a year.  Read more on Friedman in our original profile HERE


David and Tammy Friedman at a playground which they dedicated in Bet El, with Former MK and Bet El Founder Yaakov “Ketzaleh” Katz. (on the left.) 

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