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In a pre-Rosh Hashanah interview with Israeli media, US Ambassador David Friedman said that it was now certain that the Golan Heights would remain forever in Israel's hands.
In an interview with the daily newspaper Israel Hayom, Friedman noted that with the fracturing of Syria, he could "not imagine" any scenario where Israel now returns the Golan to the control of the Assad regime.
"I cannot honestly imagine a situation in which the Golan Heights is not part of Israel forever," said Friedman.
"Giving up the high area of the Golan Heights may put Israel at great security disadvantage, and it is unnecessary to say that I cannot think of anyone more unworthy of receiving such a prize than [Syrian dictator Bashar] Assad," he added.
While the State of Israel has officially been at war with neighboring Syria for the entirety of its 70-year modern existence, the Golan Heights has been its quietest border for more than 30 years, up until the sporadic cross-border incidents marking Syria's ongoing civil war.
It is a strategic high ground that gives Israel an incredible military advantage over one of its most intractable enemies, which is why no Israeli government, be it Right- or Left-wing, has ever been willing to part with the area.
PHOTO: US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. (Hadas Parush / Flash90)
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JERUSALEM, Israel – A diplomatic spat appeared to erupt between U.S. and Israeli officials over President Trump's visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City just days before he's due in the region.
Many were astonished to learn that a U.S. official said the Western Wall isn't part of Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to accompany President Trump to the Western Wall when he visits next week. But apparently the request was denied and according to Israeli television, a U.S. official said the Western Wall "is not your territory, but part of the West Bank."
The controversy is over the Western Wall, or Kotel. For thousands of years, Jewish people from around the world have come to pray at the wall. It's the closest they have to praying at the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.
In December, the Obama administration failed to veto a U.N. resolution that said Israel had "no validity" in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) in the eastern sector of Jerusalem. But Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has stood firm against anti-Israel sentiments at the U.N.
To make matters more conflicted, the new U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, arrived on Monday to take up his post. Friedman headed straight to the Western Wall to pray from the airport, calling it "the holiest place in the entire Jewish world."
One focal point of President Trump's visit next week is bound to be Jerusalem.
He's arriving as Israel prepares to celebrate Israel's victory and a reunited Jerusalem following the Six-Day War.
Israelis hope that Trump will honor his campaign promise either to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's united capital or announce a move of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.
On Monday, Fox News foreign correspondent Connor Powell threw more fuel on the fire when he tweeted, "Everyone I've spoken to in DC that has been briefed on the Jerusalem Embassy move says Netanyahu told Trump not to move the embassy at this time."
The prime minister's office responded sharply, saying the Fox News claims are false.
Many Israelis expected the Trump visit would bolster Israel's position on Jerusalem and the peace talks. Now, some are anxious about what may happen next week.
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US Senate Confirms David Friedman as Ambassador to Israel
CBN News 03-23-2017
The Senate confirmed David Friedman to be the United States' next ambassador to Israel Thursday.
The news was applauded by many conservatives, but highlighted a clear divide in party lines. Only two Democrats, New Jersey Senator Bob Menedez and West Virginia's Joe Manchin, joined a unified Republican party in favor of Friedman's nomination.
Friedman faced fierce oppostion for his critical view of the "two-state solution" and support for Jewish homes in biblical Judea and Samaria.
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"He's a controversial guy because he is right leaning. He's got some pretty tough positions with regard to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," Jonathan Schanzer, of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told CBN News in an interview.
Israel warmly welcomed Friedman in his new role as ambassador.
Bejamin Netanyahu posted on Twitter saying:
"New US ambassador to Israel David Friedman will be warmly welcomed as President Trump's representative and as a close friend of Israel.
Pro-Israel activists also celebrated Friedman's confirmation and even suggested he may be the most pro-Israel ambassador America has seen in a long time.
"This is a great day for America, Israel, the Jewish people, and Amb. David Friedman," said Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America. "He will be the most pro-Israel pro-America Ambassador to Israel in history. He is the first U.S. Ambassador to Israel that has a realistic, rational view of the issues affecting all the parties there."
The new US Ambassador to Israel under President Donald Trump will reside and work in Jerusalem, even if the embassy is still officially in Tel Aviv.
David Friedman is yet to receive Senate approval for his new posting, but has already confirmed that he’ll spend most of his time in Israel’s real capital.
Friedman owns an apartment in Jerusalem, and plans to live and conduct most of his diplomatic work there.
A day before his inauguration as America’s 45th president, Trump said he had not forgotten his campaign promise to move the US Embassy back to Jerusalem.
A giant billboard appeared in Jerusalem last week congratulating Trump on his inauguration and his decision to support Israel’s claim to the holy city.
“Mazeltov on your decision to move your embassy to Jerusalem,” it read.
The Palestinians, meanwhile, reiterated their threat to respond violently should Trump go through with the embassy move.
A statement released by a gathering of all ruling Palestinian terrorist organizations read:
“Moving the embassy, if it takes place, will ignite more fires in the region, where international officials are trying to find arrangements and solutions to different issues, including the Palestinian issue.”
The Palestinian groups insisted that Jerusalem is an “occupied city” and that supporting Israel’s claim to it would be seen as a declaration of war.
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The Hispanic Israel Leadership Coalition is defending President-elect Donald Trump's selection of David Friedman to be U.S. Ambassador to Israel and is urging all evangelicals to put pressure on the Senate to push for a vote to rescind United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334. (Submitted photo)
Hispanic Evangelicals Express Their Support for David Friedman, Mobilize to Rescind UNSC Resolution 2334
Pastor Mario Bramnick, President of the Hispanic Israel Leadership Coalition, said members of his organization enthusiastically support both President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for ambassador to Israel and efforts in Congress to force the United Nations to rescind Security Council Resolution 2334.
"In light of the Obama Administration's eight years of anti-Israel policy, [Ambassador-designate David Friedman]'s appointment sends a powerful signal that President Elect Trump will strengthen the bond between America and its greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel," he said Monday. "[The Resolution 2334] vote will strengthen the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel; it will lead to more world court actions based on international law. There is a growing global anti-Semitism, and unfortunately it seems to be led by our [President Barack Obama]."
The Friedman Nomination
Bramnick said the Trump Administration has vowed to work to rescind the United Nation's resolution condemning Israel, to roll back the Iranian deal, to move the U.S. embassy to the eternal undivided capital of Israel, Jerusalem, and to repair relations with our greatest ally in the Middle East, which have eroded through the Obama administration over the last eight years.
His organization worked directly with Friedman on developing the Trump-Pence campaign's pro-Israel policy proposals. Friedman said the Trump administration will support Israel in reaching its own conclusion about how to best achieve peace with its neighbors.
"The critical thing is to recognize that there is not going to be any progress on a Palestinian state until the Palestinians renounce violence and accept Israel as a Jewish state," Friedman said before the election. "Until that happens, there is really nothing to talk about in terms of a political process."
"We trust Israel. We think it is doing an excellent job of balancing its respect for human rights and its security needs in a very difficult neighborhood. Israel is a partner with the U.S. in the global war against terrorism—the overall premise of the policy is to respect Israel as a partner and not to unduly influence its decisions."
Although Friedman isn't a "trained diplomat," he is among the world's greatest advocates for the "indivisible Jerusalem" policy, and as ambassador to Israel, he intends to move the U.S. embassy to Israel's eternal capital. He also said he views pro-Israel Christians as full stakeholders in Israel's well-being, not just mere supporters.
"As evangelicals, we believe that the land of Israel, with Jerusalem as the undivided and eternal capital, was given by God to the Jewish people," Bramnick said. "A 2013 Pew Research poll showed 82 percent of evangelicals support Israel based on their faith and biblical understanding that God gave the land of Israel to his chosen people, the Jews."
UNSC Resolution 2334
Friedman also understands free exercise and access to Christian holy sites is in danger and can only be guaranteed by Israel. Nearly every site of religious importance to Christians lies on the wrong side of the so-called "Green Line" and is inside a would-be Arab-Islamic country, according to Obama and UNSC Resolution 2334.
Resolution 2334 explicitly declares East Jerusalem as a settlement. The U.S. has essentially declared that, as a matter of international law, the Jewish state has no claim on the Western Wall, the Temple Mount and indeed the entire Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem.
According to the U.N.—and, by its acquiescence, the U.S.—they all belong to Palestine.
"The Temple Mount is the most sacred site in all of Judaism," the NILC declared in a statement about Resolution 2334. "That it should be declared foreign to the Jewish people is as if the Security Council declared Mecca and Medina to be territory to which Islam has no claim.
"This resolution is denying the Jewish people rights to their own homeland as well as threatening the very survival of Christians to our holy sites in the biblical heartland. Regardless of the 4,000 years of documented history of the Jewish people, Obama and the United Nations have denied the Jewish people's right to live and build freely in their ancient homeland, including east Jerusalem, which would include the Wailing Wall in the Jewish quarter."
Bramnick said HILC intends to work with its friends in the Trump administration and in Congress to defund the "morally bankrupt" U.N. while calling upon evangelicals and elected officials across the nation to support the president-elect's efforts to rectify the "reckless actions" of President Obama.
HILC will be bringing its top leadership to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 11 to join Christians United for Israel and 175 other church leaders to show their objection over Resolution 2334, and to encourage their senators to pass a resolution that both condemns 2334 and urges the Obama not to return to the Security Council for another resolution. The U.S. and other nations will be gathering in Paris on Jan. 15 for what is widely expected to be another round of international condemnation for Israel.
"President-elect Donald Trump rejects the false notion that Israel is an occupier, and [he] wholeheartedly helped lead the policy made by the Republican Party platform on Israel," Bramnick said.
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Many Israeli politicians were excited over the weekend by US President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of David Friedman as America’s next ambassador to the Jewish state.
Some went so far as to hail his reliance on the Bible in making policy decisions.
Friedman previously served as Trump’s lawyer. He transitioned to the role of trusted advisor during the recently-concluded presidential campaign.
Friedman visited Israel a number of times in recent months. Just after Trump’s victory, he told Israel Radio that Jerusalem should consider annexing the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria.
Those positions have liberals in the US fuming over Friedman’s appointment and what it means for the “land-for-peace” process.
But most Israelis already view the the peace process as dead, and so see new hope in both Trump and Friedman.
“Friedman is an enthusiastic supporter of the people of Israel in the Land of Israel according to the Torah of Israel, and I wish him and us luck,” said Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan (Jewish Home).
Friedman’s “positions reflect the desire to strengthen the status of Israel’s capital Jerusalem at this time and an understanding that settlements were never the real problem in the region,” noted Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud).
Even to the center of the political spectrum, Friedman was welcomed.
“Look forward to working with Mr. Friedman, the new US ambassador & great friend of Israel, in his rightful office in our capital, Jerusalem,” Yair Lapid, head of the centrist Yesh Atid party, posted on Twitter.
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Labor) insisted that most Israelis still want to separate from the Palestinians, not annex them, and that Friedman would need to learn that. But he nevertheless offered his welcome to the next ambassador.
Only to the extreme Left were the reactions hostile.
“Trump’s appointments are outrageous and one competes with the other for which is worse,” screeched Zehava Gal-On, head of the ultra-leftist Meretz party.
Gal-On did acknowledge, however, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going to love working with Friedman.
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