By COLlive reporter
David Friedman has a busy week ahead of him and he sure can use a blessing.
The new American ambassador is expected to arrive in Israel on Monday and begin shuttling between his private home in Jerusalem, the official residence in Hertzelia and the embassy in Tel Aviv.
The next day, he will go to the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, together with the ambassadors of Spain and Thailand, to present his credentials to President Reuven Rivlin, Haaretz reported.
Friedman will then spend a week racing against the clock to finalize the preparations for the visit of U.S. President Donald Trump on May 22 as part of his first foreign trip since the election.
Friedman can use all the blessings he can get as he takes on the new post. On Thursday, he was seen praying at the Rebbe‘s Ohel gravesite in the Old Montefiore Cemetary in Queens, NY.
Accompanying him was Rabbi Zalman Wolowik, Director of Chabad of the Five Towns on Long Island, where Friedman has lived. The two were seen writing a personal note of request for blessings.
Friedman will be joining Trump during his visits to the Kotel in Jerusalem and to Masada, a historical fortress in southern Israel’s Judean desert, where Trump will be giving a speech on the Middle East.
Trump will also be meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah with the hopes of restarting “peace” negotiations.
According to Haaretz, Friedman has been telling Israeli officials that Trump is “a great opportunity for Israel” and that they should refrain from getting into confrontations with the president and to help him implement his Middle Eastern policies.
I can’t agree with ambassador that we should all just welcome Trump’s policies and not confront those that don’t serve our interests. That’s exactly why more land was given away by “right wingers” in government than the left wingers because the most dangerous thing is to be lulled into a false sense of security by those “who have your best interests in mind”. When your open opponents are in control at least you can be vigilant and fight when they try to do the things that we disagree with.
Hashem should bless ambassador Friedman with success, his personal, and Israel’s and America’s success.