AP FACT CHECK: Trump Israel pick talks tough on Palestinians
WASHINGTON — David Friedman, President Donald Trump’s pick to be U.S. ambassador to Israel, displayed an exhaustive knowledge of Israeli-Palestinian affairs during his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, but at times glossed over intricacies of the famously complex region. A look at some of his statements before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:
FRIEDMAN: Asked about the Trump administration’s position on a two-state solution, he said he would be delighted to see a peace deal giving Palestinians an independent state. But he acknowledged skepticism “solely on the basis of what I’ve perceived as an unwillingness on the part of the Palestinians to renounce terror and accept Israel as a Jewish state.”
He said Palestinians had failed to “end incitement” of violence, and terrorism had increased since the Oslo Accords in the 1990s, intended to be a stepping stone toward Palestinian statehood.
THE FACTS: Not all Palestinians are the same.