The longest-serving member of the U.S. Senate has announced that he intends to oppose the appointment of David Friedman as America’s next Ambassador to Israel.
Vermont Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Monday he cannot “see how anyone could conclude that Mr. Friedman possesses the requisite temperament” for the position.
Leahy said in a speech later uploaded to his website that he does not believe David Friedman “appreciates the critical distinction between the interests of the United States, and the parochial interests of an extreme constituency in Israel that he has fiercely advocated for over the course of his long career.”
What is best for the American people, and the desire for a viable solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, he said, are both goals that Friedman seeks, Leahy acknowledged.
However, “Neither goal can be achieved by pursuing policies that further inflame tensions in the region and erode the role of the United States as an honest broker for peace,” he contended.