Trump picks pro-settlements Israel ambassador

US President-elect Donald Trump's pick for ambassador to Israel is a fervent supporter of Israeli settlements and an opponent of Palestinian statehood.

Trump

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Wisconsin State Fair Exposition Center, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016. Source: AP

If President-elect Donald Trump is seeking to show he plans to obliterate President Barack Obama's approach to Israel, he may have found his man to deliver that message in David Friedman

The bankruptcy lawyer and son of an Orthodox rabbi is Trump's pick for US ambassador to Israel. And he's everything Obama is not.

He's a fervent supporter of Israeli settlements, an opponent of Palestinian statehood and an unrelenting defender of Israel's government.

The heated debate over Friedman's selection is playing out amid fresh tensions between the US and Israel.

Last Friday, Obama's administration allowed a UN Security Council resolution to pass condemning Israeli settlements as illegal, a stunning change in US policy.

Trump vows that things will be different after he takes office.

FILE- In this photo provided by Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP, David Friedman,
David Friedman, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for ambassador to Israel. (AAP) Source: Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP

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Source: AAP



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