HAARETZ: 'Former U.S. Ambassadors Urge Senate Not to Confirm Friedman as Trump's Israel Envoy'

This article was originally published via Haaretz, and references Ambassador Walker's opposition to the appointment of David Friedman as Trump's Israel Envoy. 

Five former U.S. ambassadors to Israel sent a letter on Wednesday to members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urging them to reject the nomination of President Trump's candidate for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, because of what they define as his "extreme positions" and because he is "unqualified for the position." 

The letter, a copy of which has been obtained by Haaretz, is signed by former ambassadors Thomas Pickering, Dan Kurtzer, Edward Walker, James Cunningham and William Harrop - diplomats that have served under both Republican and Democratic administrations. 

The five former ambassadors stated that they "care deeply about Israel" since it is a U.S. ally and a democratic stronghold in the Middle East. Then they explain how they view the duties of the U.S. ambassador to Israel, which they said include strengthening Israel's security and advancing the prospects of peace between Israel and its neighbors. They maintain that these have been bipartisan goals of U.S. foreign policy for decades.

David Friedman, they claim, does not share this view regarding the ambassador's role. The group quoted his position that the two-state solution is "an illusory solution" and his support for settlements in the West Bank. "We urge the committee," they added, to "address the question of whether Mr. Friedman would defend as ambassador the established American view that annexation of West Bank territory, outside the context of an international resolution, would be counterproductive and a violation of international law."

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/us-news/1.772048