Friedman awaits Senate confirmation as Israel envoy

Knowing David Friedman for nearly half a century, Five Towns resident Cindy Grosz believes her former North Woodmere neighbor will make an excellent envoy to Israel because he is “real and authentic.”

“David will be a great ambassador because he is real,” Grosz said, “what you see is what you get. David actually sat next to [President] Ronald Reagan at the famous Friday lunch when Reagan ate at the Friedman home. [David’s] mother made traditional kugels and soup. David and his family will do the same when President Trump visits them.

Grosz referred to the visit by the 40th president to North Woodmere in 1984, when he also spoke at Temple Hillel, the synagogue where Friedman’s father, Rabbi Morris Friedman, was the spiritual leader.

Friedman is on the cusp of a lifelong dream he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at his Feb. 16 confirmation hearing. The committee votes on a recommendation and then the full Senate votes to confirm. Senators reconvene on Feb. 27.“This is something I really want to do because I think I can do it well,” the Woodsburgh resident told the committee. “There is nothing more important that strengthening the bond with Israel.”

Friedman served as one of Donald Trump’s advisers on Jewish affairs during the presidential campaign. He first became acquainted with the billionaire businessman turned world leader by representing Trump through a few bankruptcies. Friedman is a partner with the Manhattan-based law firm of Kasowtiz Benson Torries & Friedman LLP.

Trump’s pick set off a firestorm of protest from liberal-leaning Jewish groups and individuals who believe that Friedman’s views and rhetoric will inflame tensions in the Mideast not help to calm an already contentious region of the world.
Contrite during his confirmation hearing, Friedman said that he understands what he has stated previously could be construed as inflammatory. “I will keep my private opinions in New York,” he said, when questioned by Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat from Maryland.

People who know Friedman strongly believe that he will comport himself well and do a superb job as an ambassador.

Rabbi Zalman Wolowik, spiritual leader of the Chabad of the Five Towns, said Friedman has been part of the Chabad’s menorah lighting and Hanukkah celebration for more than a decade. A Chabad tradition since 1995.

“David Friedman would make a great ambassador, as he is a very proud American citizen, who has a deep concern for America and Israel,” said Wolowik, who attended the confirmation hearing. “He will always consider what is best for America and Israel.”

Myron Thurm, who is part of the Woodsburgh minyan with Friedman, a group of Jewish men who pray together, said that the new envoy is proud of being American and has a tremendous love and respect for this country as well as Israel. “David Friedman is a decent man with great intellect and an understanding of right and wrong,” Thurm said. “As a lifelong supporter of Israel, he understands the issues involved and can help strengthen the relationship between the U.S. and Israel.”

Despite the controversy that surrounded Friedman’s nomination and subsequent hearing, where a few protestors were removed, Grosz said that whether a person is Republican or a Democrat, “our neighborhood should be proud of one of its own.”

“David’s first loves are just like his mom and dad and his siblings and their families — their love of traditional Judaic values and customs, their time together with close friends and family, their belief in charity, and love of Israel,” she said, are the attributes her longtime friend has that placed him on this path.