Anti-Palestinian Jewish attorney sworn in as US envoy to Israel

David Friedman, a strong proponent of Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian land, has been sworn in as the new US ambassador to the Tel Aviv regime.

US Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath of office to Friedman on Wednesday, about a week after the Senate confirmed his nomination in a 52-46 vote.

"One of the clearest signs of the president's commitment to the state of Israel and to its people is in his choice of David Friedman as America's Ambassador to Israel," Pence said, haling Trump’s decision to nominate the anti-Palestinian Jewish American attorney for the crucial diplomatic post.

Friedman, who once served as Trump's bankruptcy lawyer, is critical of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and supports Israel’s illegal settlement activities on the occupied territories. The 58-year-old has also backed the idea of moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to East Jerusalem al-Quds.

‘Trump is a lifelong friend of Israel’

“The president of the United States of America is a lifelong friend of Israel and the Jewish people and, under his leadership, if the world knows nothing else the world will know this: America stands with Israel,” Pence said.

"This is a critical time for our two nations and our peoples. The challenges we face are many, but our resolve to overcome them has never been stronger," he stated.

“Under President Trump's leadership, the United States will always be a faithful friend to the Jewish State of Israel,” the VP added.

On Sunday, Pence told the 2017 AIPAC policy conference in Washington, DC, Trump is “serious” about moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem al-Quds.

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Trump's rise has emboldened Israeli extremists to implement their illegal policies and further their occupational agenda by transferring the embassy, a move that Palestinian officials and prominent American politicians have warned against.

Emboldened by the Trump administration’s support, the regime in Tel Aviv has given the go-ahead to the construction of many new settlement units.

Over half a million Israelis live in over 230 settlements built illegally since the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian territories.

The presence and continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestine has created a major obstacle for the efforts to establish peace in the Middle East.

Pursuit of Palestinian state is ‘damaging anachronism’

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Friedman was Trump’s adviser on US-Israel relations.

Friedman, a son of an Orthodox rabbi with no previous political experience, has previously argued that the pursuit of a Palestinian state is a “damaging anachronism.”

Some 600 American rabbis signed a letter last month against Friedman’s appointment as the US ambassador.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has welcomed Friedman's nomination. He tweeted that Friedman "will be warmly welcomed as President Trump's representative and as a close friend of Israel."

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