David Friedman, President Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to Israel, had barely started his opening remarks at his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday when the protests began. He also introduced a letter from five former ambassadors to Israel from Republican and Democratic administrations who objected to the nominee. Friedman told the committee he would be "delighted" to see Israeli and Palestinian states coexist but questioned whether that was feasible. Friedman repeated the Israeli argument that a major impediment to peace is that the Palestinians don’t have leaders with whom Israel can negotiate. “He'll be Trump's voice.”Other Republicans on the GOP-led committee also appeared supportive, meaning he probably will be confirmed.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 16, 2017 23:22 UTC