WASHINGTON (JTA) — President-elect Donald Trump is nominating a top Jewish surrogate, David Friedman, to be ambassador to Israel, with a statement saying Friedman will serve from Jerusalem and describing the city as “Israel’s eternal capital.”

Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer who has for years worked for Trump and his real estate development business, was with Jason Greenblatt, another Trump lawyer, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, one of his main emissaries to the Jewish community. The Trump transition team’s statement said Friedman – who like the incumbent ambassador, Dan Shapiro, speaks Hebrew – intends “to work tirelessly to strengthen the unbreakable bond between our two countries and advance the cause of peace within the region, and look forward to doing this from the U.S. embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.”

Congress recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 1995 and mandated the move of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but successive presidents have exercised a waiver in the law, citing national security interests. Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, called nominating Friedman “reckless,” citing his support for settlements and his questioning of a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Like some of his predecessors, Trump has vowed to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, an act that would anger Palestinians who want east Jerusalem as part of their sovereign territory. "The selection of Mr. David Friedman to serve as United States Ambassador to Israel sends a powerful signal to the Jewish community and the State of Israel that President-elect Trump's administration will strengthen the bond between our two countries and advance the cause of peace within the region," the Republican Jewish Coalition said in a statement.
President-elect Donald Trump nominates his middle-eastern affairs advisor and former bankruptcy lawyer David Friedman as the next United States Ambassador to Israel.