The U.S. Senate today confirmed, by a very narrow margin, the nomination of David Friedman to be America’s ambassador to Israel. 

Americans for Peace Now (APN) strongly opposed Friedman’s confirmation and worked hard to thwart it.

We still believe that Mr. Friedman is the wrong person to represent our country in Israel. A long paper trail of extremist views on West Bank settlements, on the occupation, on the Palestinians, on American Jews and non-Jews who take issue with his extremist views, his slander of American diplomats and civil servants, and, of President Obama, whom he called an anti-Semite, should have disqualified Friedman from serving as America’s ambassador to the State of Israel.

In his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill, Friedman systematically walked back and regretted his inflammatory rhetoric, to the extent that Tennessee Republican Senator Bob Corker told Friedman he found it "fairly extraordinary" to hear him "recant every strongly-held belief that you had."

Friedman will have to work hard to convince Americans, Israelis, Palestinians and the world that he deserves the trust he received today from a little more than half of the Senate to faithfully represent the interests of the United States overseas.

Americans who care deeply about Israeli-Palestinian peace as both an American national security interest and as a condition for Israel’s existence as a democracy and a Jewish state, will closely monitor both his words and actions.

APN will do just that, and will call Mr. Friedman’s conduct out when we believe his words and actions do a disservice to the United States -- or Israel.