
GOP-run committee backs Trump’s pick for US envoy to Israel
WASHINGTON — A Republican-led Senate committee on Thursday narrowly approved the nomination of the combative lawyer selected by President Donald Trump to be ambassador to Israel, brushing aside concerns that David Friedman lacked the temperament for such a critical diplomatic post.
Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted largely along party lines, 12-9, to recommend that the full Senate consider Friedman’s nomination. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., sided with the committee’s 11 Republicans in favour of Friedman. The committee’s other nine Democrats opposed the choice.
Friedman, Trump’s former bankruptcy lawyer, tried to use his confirmation hearing a month ago to repair the damage from his past verbal attacks on political opponents. He assured senators that he regretted using inflammatory language and promised to be “respectful and measured” if confirmed.
During that hearing, Friedman acknowledged he deserved criticism for incendiary comments that targeted former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, liberal Jewish advocacy groups and others. Friedman had called one group, J Street, “worse than kapos” — a reference to Jews who helped the Nazis imprison others Jews during the Holocaust. He also accused Obama of “anti-Semitism.”