BICOM

US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, said yesterday that the Trump administration is sympathetic to Israel’s “overriding security control” in the West Bank in any future peace deal with the Palestinians.

Speaking at the AIPAC conference in Washington, Friedman warned that a future US administration may not recognise: “The existential risk to Israel if Judea and Samaria are overcome by terrorists.” He also said that a future administration could be “Potentially willing to penalise Israel for having the audacity to survive in a dangerous neighbourhood.”

The Ambassador pledged that the Trump administration: “Will continue to work with the Israeli government, with the Palestinians, with other regional players,” to promote peace in the region, whilst acknowledging that there will be “some turbulence along the way”.

Speaking about Iran, Friedman said that Iran has “doubled down on terrorist activity in Iraq and Lebanon, increased its stock of missiles, amped up death to America and death to Israel,” noting that: “We now know Iran lied to everyone. We will need to do what needs to be done, and we will not do it for the Benjamins but rather for the Davids – from King David to David Ben-Gurion.”

Friedman’s mention of “the Benjamins” was a not so subtle reference to the statement made last month by Rep. Ilhan Omar that American politicians are only pro-Israel because organisations such as AIPAC facilitate campaign contributions.

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi also alluded to the Omar controversy in her speech, referencing a later comment by Omar that Jewish Americans have dual loyalty to the US and Israel. Pelosi told AIPAC that: “Debates must take place without questioning a person’s loyalty or patriotism”.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to AIPAC from Israel and said: “Those who want to tear the US and Israel apart will fail. We must never take anything for granted. Those who seek to defame this great organisation, AIPAC … they must be confronted.”

Omar tweeted in response: “This from a man facing indictments for bribery and other crimes…. At this year’s AIPAC conference, the topic Netanyahu chose to focus on was … me. I —like so many others—have not criticised AIPAC because of its membership or the country it advocates for. I’ve criticised it because it has repeatedly opposed efforts to guarantee peace and human rights in the region.”

Netanyahu also addressed recent criticism of the nation state law, which passed in July and his rhetoric toward Israel’s Arabs. He said: “No one, no one is a second class citizen. All of Israel’s citizens are first class citizens. Israel will always be a democracy, just as Israel will always be a Jewish state. Israel is the home of all Jews.”