Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said Sunday that he is “embarrassed” by the behavior of Jewish organizations that had accused former President Donald Trump of antisemitism last week, despite the evidence.
Friedman spoke to Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Joel B. Pollak on Breitbart News Sunday, which airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 7-10 p.m. ET on Sunday evenings.
Pollak interviewed Friedman about his new book, One Jewish State: The Last, Best Hope to Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict which is currently #1 in its category on Amazon.com.
Friedman was the ambassador during President Donald Trump’s first term, and was directly involved in some of the dramatic achievements in U.S.-Israel policy, including the relocation of the embassy to Jerusalem, the recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and the forging of the Abraham Accords peace deal with several Arab states.
Pollak asked Friedman to respond to criticism by some Jewish organizations and by the media over remarks that Trump made to a Jewish organization in which he urged the community to give him more than 40% of the vote — a high water mark for polling among Jewish voters — in light of his achievements for Israel and for the community.
While critics pulled one of Trump’s remarks out of context, Pollak noted that the full speech revealed that Trump said nothing antisemitic at all.
He asked Friedman to respond:
POLLAK: What would you say to some of the Jewish organizations that are piling on and saying that President Trump made an antisemitic remark to the Israeli American Council last week when he talked about how he was disappointed that only 40% of the community [would vote] for him despite all the things he’s done for Israel and the Jewish community?
FRIEDMAN: I think it’s all just political gamesmanship, you know. Look — this is the most well-known human being on the face of the earth. We know how he talks, we know how he thinks. The bottom line is this: he’s done massive good for Israel, and for the region. He’s done massive good to limit the powers of Iran, which have now jumped back into full force under the Biden administration. This is how he talks. I mean, he expects some kind of reciprocal loyalty from the Jewish world because he’s been so good to the Jewish people. That’s how he talks. It’s not antisemitic — just the opposite. He’s saying, I’ve done so much for the Jewish people, you guys should really reciprocate. And frankly, I think he’s right, and I’m embarrassed that the Jewish community in very large numbers has rejected his candidacy. Because if you care about antisemitism at home, or you care about the State of Israel and its safety and security abroad, he’s the only choice — on the basis of his record, not on the basis of his rhetoric.
Friedman’s book suggests that Israel should annex the West Bank (known to Israelis as Judea and Samaria) and eventually Gaza as well, giving Palestinians full civil rights except for the vote in national elections. Just as residents of the United States territory of Puerto Rico vote in local races, and are self-governing, but do not participate in national presidential elections, so, too the Palestinian Arabs could govern themselves but under Israeli sovereignty, since Palestinians had proven uninterested in building a state of their own, Friedman argues in the book.
Polls of Trump’s support within the Jewish community have varied widely. Many believe that 40% is the ceiling for any Republican; President Ronald Reagan won roughly 40% of the Jewish vote in the 1980 election.