“I thank you for not only your personal friendship but for your enormous contribution for prosperity, security and peace,” Netanyahu told Friedman.
By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted a short farewell reception Sunday for U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting.
He praised Friedman for having “made history” during his tenure as ambassador.
“I think that few people can speak as you have and say we have made history. And we have,” Netanyahu said. “We have made history by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. This is a decision by President Trump that you supported deeply.”
“[We] made history by moving the American embassy here. Made history by recognizing the Golan. Made history by inaugurating the realistic peace plan. Made history by conducting and finishing four normalization agreements that herald an era of peace between Israel and the Arab world,” Netanyahu said, adding “this is the beginning.”
Netanyahu also thanked Friedman for America’s help in “resisting Iran’s attempts to achieve nuclear weapons. These are two fundamentally opposed forces – the forces of peace, moderation and progress and the forces of aggression, genocide and terror.”
“We have to be on the side of the good and fight and struggle constantly against the bad. It’s not only for the sake of Israel and the United States, it’s for the sake of all those who live in the Middle East, and beyond the Middle East, who want to see a better world, a safer world and a world that is free of the greatest terror of them all – nuclear terror.”
Friedman arrived in Israel to take up his posting in May of 2016, and while he started at the official ambassador’s residence north of Tel Aviv, he relocated to Jerusalem as the first U.S. ambassador to Israel who was officially stationed there. He has not yet announced his future plans, as pPresident-elect Joe Biden is most likely to replace Friedman with his own appointee shortly after taking office.
“I thank you for not only your personal friendship but for your enormous contribution for prosperity, security and peace,” Netanyahu told Friedman, who sat with a coronavirus face mask emblazoned with the flags of the two countries.
“You have been a magnificent friend, a great personal friend,” Netanyahu said.
“We are really appreciative of your love for Israel, your commitment as an American patriot to strengthening America, to strengthen freedom, to fight for the common values that bind Americans and Israelis together. And I think no one has done it better than you. So thank you.”
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