Friend --
We’d just gotten to our J Street staff holiday party.
The month since Trump’s election had been a daily confirmation of all our greatest fears. The Israeli right was hailing his victory as an opportunity to pursue annexation, Steve Bannon had been tapped as Trump’s top advisor and (now convicted felon) Mike Flynn had been appointed NSA.
We were all looking forward to a break and a much needed drink, when our phones started buzzing. Trump had announced his pick for US ambassador to Israel: David Friedman.
We typed out our statement right there at the bar. We vowed to fight the nomination with everything we had. The next morning, we all got into the office while it was still dark to start the fight.
That was three years ago today.
Over the next few weeks, we -- you, us, allies we didn’t know we had -- put up an incredible fight to block Friedman’s nomination. We got nearly half the Senate to vote no. But that vote also gave us a preview of how obsequious Trump’s loyalists in the Senate would be. Not a single Republican voted to block a man who funded illegal settlements and called liberal Jews ‘worse than kapos.’
We weren’t successful that day. But over the next year, we have another chance to stop Friedman. And Trump. And Stephen Miller. And, for that matter, their enablers in the Senate. We can defeat them next November.
So many of you stood with us in 2016 for that first battle. Now I’m asking you to stand with us again to finish this fight.
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Over the past three years, all of our warnings about David Friedman have been borne out. He’s politicized his position, declaring that Republicans support Israel more than Democrats. He’s led a campaign of occupation denial that’s succeeded in getting the word removed from State Department reports. He was behind Trump's reversal of US policy on the illegality of settlements.
Friedman even said that the settlements “are part of Israel” -- one of many statements he’s made that all but endorse Israel’s partial or full annexation of the West Bank.
Much of the damage he’s done is reversible. We can repair relations with the Palestinians, re-empower Israeli supporters of a two-state solution and reset US policy to make it absolutely clear that the settlements are illegal and harmful to peace.
But that means standing up over the next year to prevent further damage. And ultimately, it means electing leaders -- in the Senate and White House -- who share our values; leaders who won’t just return to the pre-Trump status quo, but who will actively work to end the occupation and achieve the peace and security Israelis and Palestinian deserve.
Let’s do this.
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-Benjamin Silverstein
Digital Director, J Street
