Jilted Democrats fume over Trump-Netanyahu lovefest
Democrats in Congress are taking aim at US Ambassador David Friedman as the deepening alliance between the US government and the Israeli right leaves them in the cold.
US Ambassador David Friedman has been acting as the Israeli right-wing’s unfiltered apostle of late.
He has insisted that “settlers aren’t going anywhere” and consistently blamed the Palestinians for the breakdown in peace talks. He invited prominent pro-Trump evangelicals to dedicate the US Embassy in Jerusalem last month, then pronounced himself “very concerned” that no Democrats showed up, even though none had received a White House invitation. And just this week, he admonished journalists who question Israel for shooting protesters in Gaza and told the reporters to “just keep your mouths shut.”
“There’s no question that Republicans support Israel more than Democrats,” Friedman told the Times of Israel last month.
The Israeli government has been lapping it up, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praising the Donald Trump administration’s “unvarnished” and “straightforward” envoy. But Democrats and left-leaning American Jews are warning that the lovefest between the Israeli and US right is further damaging the already strained bipartisan consensus in support of Israel, with potential costs to the bilateral relationship down the line.
