Ambassador to Israel David Friedman to be keynote speaker at Yeshiva University graduation

Woodsburgh resident and United States Ambassador to Israel David Friedman will be Yeshiva University’s keynote speaker for the school’s 88th commencement at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden on May 30.

Friedman will also receive an honorary doctorate degree at the graduation. Two years ago, he was confirmed as the envoy to the Jewish state and helped carry out President Donald Trump’s plan to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last year.

A lawyer, he was a principal at Kasowitz Benson Torres and Friedman, a Manhattan-based law firm that previously handled bankruptcy cases for Trump. Friedman grew up in North Woodmere and is the son of the late Rabbi Morris Friedman, an iconic figure in the Jewish community, who was one of the founders of the modern Orthodox movement.

Rabbi Friedman was the spiritual leader at Temple Hillel, a Conservative synagogue in North Woodmere. He hosted President Ronald Reagan when Reagan visited the Five Towns in 1984, at both his home and synagogue.