David Friedman

David Melech Friedman, born August 8, 1958, is an American Jewish lawyer and diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Israel from 2017 to 2021. Before entering government, he built a career in bankruptcy law, advised Donald Trump on Israel- and Jewish-related matters, and managed Trump's campaign activity in Israel. After leaving diplomatic service, he continued to promote regional ties created by the Abraham Accords and to write about Israel's political and national future.

Friedman's public significance lies in the combination of Orthodox Jewish identity, longstanding personal ties to Israel, legal and business experience, and access to the highest levels of American policymaking. During his ambassadorship, the United States adopted decisions that altered the framework of U.S.–Israel relations, most notably the relocation of the American embassy to Jerusalem and recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Early Life, Education, and Legal Career

Friedman was born in Woodmere, Long Island, New York, to Morris Shmuel Friedman, a rabbi, and Addi Friedman. His father led Temple Hillel, a Conservative synagogue in North Woodmere, and held a leadership role with the New York Board of Rabbis. This family background connected Friedman early to organized Jewish life in America and to the questions of Jewish identity, community, and attachment to Israel.

He earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Columbia University in 1978 and a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1981. He has been a member of the New York State Bar Association since 1982. He began his legal career at Mudge Rose and in 1994 helped establish the bankruptcy practice at Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman. He later became a name partner and headed the firm's creditors' rights and bankruptcy practice in New York, where the firm employed hundreds of lawyers.

Friedman wrote and lectured on bankruptcy law and represented prominent business clients, including Carl Icahn and Donald Trump. His work for Trump, particularly his familiarity with Trump's business affairs and the Trump Organization, created the professional relationship that later brought him into national politics and diplomacy.

Links to Israel and Jewish Institutions

Friedman visited Israel frequently over several decades, speaks fluent Hebrew, and identifies with Orthodox Jewish life. He served as president of American Friends of Bet El Institutions, which raised support for educational and communal institutions in Israel. He also published English-language commentary for Arutz Sheva and was close to Yaakov Katz, who led the Bet El institutions.

Alongside this activity, Friedman served on the board of United Hatzalah, an Israeli organization that provides emergency medical response through volunteers, and contributed to Aleh Negev, a village serving people with disabilities. These activities connect his political and communal work with Israeli institutions that provide direct services to individuals and families.

Campaign Adviser and Ambassadorial Nominee

During the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, Friedman advised Trump on Israel and Jewish affairs and managed the campaign's activities in Israel. He also helped lead the campaign's Israel Advisory Committee. In this role, he contributed to the candidate's positions and messaging on Jerusalem, the U.S.–Israel relationship, and American policy in the Middle East.

In December 2016, President-elect Trump's transition team announced Friedman as its nominee for ambassador to Israel. The Senate confirmed him on March 23, 2017, by a vote of 52–46, making him the first ambassador confirmed during the Trump administration. Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath of office on March 29. Friedman presented his credentials to President Reuven Rivlin on May 16. Upon arriving in Israel, he went first to the Western Wall, a gesture that reflected the place of Jerusalem in his Jewish identity and public mission.

Ambassador to Israel

Friedman entered office as the Trump administration sought to revise several long-standing elements of American policy in the region. He was the first American ambassador to operate from Jerusalem after the administration recognized the city as Israel's capital. In May 2018, the U.S. Embassy moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, implementing a decision authorized by Congress in 1995 but deferred by successive administrations.

During his tenure, Friedman consistently argued that Israel's connection to Jerusalem and the Land of Israel was historical, religious, and national as well as political. The United States recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and changed its position on the legal status of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. These decisions affected political debate in Israel and influenced how many Israelis and Jews abroad understood the scope of American support for the State of Israel.

In June 2019, Friedman attended the opening ceremony of the Pilgrims' Road in Jerusalem's City of David. His presence underscored his use of the ambassadorship to highlight Jewish and Israeli connections to historic sites in Jerusalem. He left office on January 20, 2021, after nearly four years as one of the most recognizable advocates of the administration's pro-Israel approach.

After the Ambassadorship: The Abraham Accords and Public Writing

After completing his term, Friedman founded the Friedman Center for Peace through Strength to continue the diplomatic and economic momentum associated with the Abraham Accords and to expand ties between Israel and Arab states. At the center's Jerusalem launch in October 2021, participants discussed the agreements and their economic dimensions, bringing together senior figures from Israel, the United States, and the Arab world. The center extends Friedman's public engagement with normalization, regional cooperation, and the role of economic ties in supporting diplomatic stability.

In 2022, Friedman published the memoir Sledgehammer: How Breaking with the Past Brought Peace to the Middle East, describing his path to the ambassadorship and his understanding of the processes that produced the Abraham Accords. In 2024, he published One Jewish State: The Last, Best Hope to Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, presenting his argument for an alternative to the two-state framework and his views on the future of a sovereign Jewish state.

These books extend his public role beyond government. They document from an insider's perspective a period of change in U.S.–Israel relations and present his thinking about Jerusalem, Israeli security, regional agreements, and the place of the Jewish people in the Middle East.

Family, Identity, and Connection to Israel

Friedman has been married to Tammy Deborah Sand since 1981, and they have five children and grandchildren. His family maintains close ties to Israel, and in August 2017 his daughter Talia immigrated to Israel and became an Israeli citizen. Friedman is an Orthodox Jew, and the fact that his bar mitzvah took place at the Western Wall has become a personal symbol of the connection he describes between his American life, Jerusalem, and Jewish heritage.

Why David Friedman Belongs in Moreshet

David Friedman merits inclusion in Moreshet because he worked at an unusual intersection of law, Jewish communal leadership, diplomacy, and Israel–United States relations. He was not merely a foreign representative: during his tenure, policies were advanced that changed Jerusalem's place in American diplomatic practice, strengthened American recognition of key Israeli positions, and influenced Israel's regional relationships.

His importance also lies in his continuing links to Jewish and Israeli institutions, his support for humanitarian organizations, and his effort to document and explain the Abraham Accords and his vision for the region. For Moreshet.com, Friedman represents the way an American Jewish communal figure can move from community and law into the centers of national decision-making, leaving a lasting mark on Jerusalem, the State of Israel, the relationship between world Jewry and Israel, and international discussion of the Middle East.