ambassador to israel. he appeared last week before the senate foreign relations committee, where he was asked about israel and the middle east peace process. fromso addressed concerns lawmakers about the rhetoric to use during the 2016 presidential election, while working as a campaign adviser. this is just over two and a half hours. er: the cornyn: -- cork foreign relations committee will come to order. we welcome mr. david friedman, nominated to the ambassador to israel. we also welcome two very distinguished guests, a member and a former member that have tremendous respect from all of us up here. we thank you for coming. we're going to defer our opening comments so you don't have to sit through that. we will let you go ahead and introduce. i taught some of the folks here that from time to time have a tendency to want to interrupt the meeting a little bit. in the past, i've asked some people to be removed, and as it turned out, they were arrested. i was able to get them un-arrested but i don't have that

embassy in israel. i'm concerned that successful diplomacy means considering the consequences of our rhetoric an d our behavior. so mr. friedman my central question is do you believe that in the role of ambassador if confirmed that you can act in a way that welcomes, celebrates and validates the entire american pro-israel and jewish community in a way that steers the trump administration and its agenda in the middle east towards peace and away from division and partisanship. >> thank you senator for the question. the short answer is yes. i think it's extraordinarily important as we discussed yesterday to cause the issue of israel to not be a political football. it never has been in the past. i'm certainly not immune from criticism. i deserve the criticism and probably contributed to the problem, but we have all i think not -- many people in the jewish community and pro-israel community have become more partisan, more separated when at the end of the day as i said earlier they all support israel, they al

they have to stop calling for israel to suction. it may have to people for israel's destruction. second, israel must retain the overriding security control over the entire area west of the jordan river. because if you don't, we know what will happen. otherwise, we will get another radical islamic terrorist state and the palestinian era exploiti exploiting the middle east. unfortunately, the palestinians that he mentally reject both requisites for peace. they call for israel's destruction and side their schools, inside their mosques, inside their textbooks. you have to read it to believe it. they even deny, mr. president, are strong connection to our homeland. i suppose you have to ask yourself, why are called? the chinese are called chinese because they are from china. the japanese are called japanese because they come from japan. jews are called jews because there from judeo. unfortunately, the palestinians denied the past, they also poisoned the presents. they named public squares after mass murderers of israelis. they paid monthly salaries to the families of murderers, like th

and therefore if i need to choose between the entire land of israel, and keeping the state of israel, as thejewish democratic state, i prefer to divide the land and to have israel and keep the land and to have israel and keep the israeli values. i would like to refer also, this was basically the idea in 19a7. the united nations wa nted idea in 19a7. the united nations wanted to end the ongoing conflict that was here before the state of israel. . and the idea was to divide the land into two different states. 0n the land into two different states. on this question, the idea of what one state could look like, the plo secretary general, has warned, that the way that some people in visit it, it would be an apartheid system, is that something that you would fear to? israel would is that something that you would fear to? israelwould not be is that something that you would fear to? israel would not be an apartheid state, i would fight against it inside israel because thatis against our values. but you recognise that as a fear of having one state? i believe that this is something, that most of

embassy in israel. i'm concerned that successful diplomacy means considering the consequences of our rhetoric an our behavior, so mr. friedman my central question is do you believe that in the role of ambassador if confirmed that you can act in a way that welcomes, celebrates and validates the israel pro-jewish community in a way that steers the trump administration and its agenda in the middle east towards peace and away from division and partisanship. >> thank you senator for the question. the short answer is yes. i think it's extraordinarily important as we discussed yesterday to cause the issue of israel to not be a political football. it never has been in the past. i am -- i'm certainly not immune from criticism. i deserve the criticism and probably contributed to the problem, but we have all i think not -- many people in the jewish community and pro-israel community have become more partisan, more separated when at the end of the day as i said earlier they all support israel, they all love this co

and outside israel. first of all, president obama tried to force right-wing government to freeze settlement and to compromise with the palestinians on core issues. without any connection to if it's wrong or not. secondly, there are many israelis that see president obama as the main responsible for the fact that for the first time, a right-wing leader actually said two-state solution. since that day in his speech, he used to repeat on this speech, time after time. there are many people in israel that don't believe him. the left in israel think that he not really mean -- he doesn't have the real means to fulfill these declarations. and the right-wing think that he just manipulate the war. but at the end of the day, netanyahu said those words which were -- would say -- in the eyes of the right-wing voters in israel. third, president obama is the one responsible for the earthquake in the middle east, which created instability in the area in egypt and other countries and created a new reality, which in one wa

has given israel everything israel could possibly want. president obama already promised $38 billion, given israel the f-35s. israel has everything it wants. of a complete financial and diplomatic support from the u.s. that's been given. i think the change is in the attitu attitude, in other words, president obama talked about palestinian rights, he didn't do anything, but he talked about it. he said we don't care about the palestinians, other blacks or anybody else for that matter, and we are going to support the state of israel. the only difference i think is cosmetic really. it's in how they present it. the reality i think, the essence of the policy is going to be the same. >> i'm going to talk about this a bit more with rabbi steve leader, author and very thoughtful guy, and i want to talk more with him about how i think we actually have -- how we get at this conversation. let me give you the first strike at that. so you see how loaded this conversation is. always has been. i expect always will be, but what might you share about how we

israel relationship. israel finds itself in the sea of instability and continues to be a serious security threat and and as recently as and to have a stronghold for civilians to rebuild the of rocket arsenal in to israel to gain battlefield experience and they returned to lebanon on. and with at acquiescence to of proxy for sinn lebanon and across the region and the iranian regime's spewed the anti-securities and in contrast on the rise in to many places in israel in isth and remains a vibrant democracy home to a lively civil society opinionated political discourse. offering tremendous opportunity for culture to its achievements in agriculture and alternative energy. a lifesaving missile defense system and one of the leaders in the world.israel, the u.s. ambassador plays aro key role of all sectors of the economy in the u.s. ambassador played a vital role to all groups regardless of politics to help chart to the u.s. response as senator ray and pointed out. and given of bread bin deathmovt from the u.s. a

for the state of israel. i am grateful to the president of the united states for nominating me to the positive ambassador to israel. i'm humbled by the trust and confidence in his place in me. to strengthen the unbreakable bond between our country and israel. i like to say senator lieberman -- i would like to introduce my family members who are here today. and thank them for their support and encouragement. a beautiful bride of 36 years, tammy and my children daniel, lisa and her husband eli and talia. watching at home are daniel's wife jana, my son jacob and his wife danielle who just had a baby boy. our daughter katie and i were seven beautiful grandchildren. whatever success i've achieved in life it would been unthinkable without the love and support especially that of my dear wife. i would especially like to wish you luck to my youngest child katie who is mitigating her first mock trial today in high school. i could not continue without reflecting upon my father. who passed away some 12 years ago. he was

as a strong supporter of israel, i believe bipartisan in support of israel advances our nation, and israel's interest as well. i am concerned political forces into the united states and in israel are pulling officials away from a sensible middle ground and toward increasingly extreme positions on the left and right. i think it is important this congress act in a way that reaffirms our bipartisan commitment to israel. we have a great deal at stake. iran continues to threaten israel and american interests and continues to destabilize the broader middle east. terrorist groups like isis and hezbollah jeopardize too many americans, israelis and arabs. israel is a vital partner for the united states. much of the media coverage surrounding our relationship focuses on shared challenges. but recent successes shouldn't go unnoticed. we discussed the ten year mou and the $38 billion of support that is the largest u.s. aid package ever and something i think president obama deserves credit. israeli officials say our security cooperation and intelligence sharing has never been stronger. but i worry with s

israel and palestine. there is a conception of a two-state solution that does result in an end to all claims and a jewish state of israel living side by side. >> do you know why the white house has reached out to palestinian leaders at all in the larger discussion of the two-state solution or peace in the least? >> i do know that there was a palestinian delegation here and that they were at least in touch with the trump administration. i know that they were trying to secure meetings but i'm not sure if those meetings occurred. >> let's hear from mario in tennessee. >> yes. good morning to everybody. there's no way that anybody can protect israel without having our military forces there to defend it but until you have two palestinian states where somebody lives on one side and the other guy lives on the other side and when somebody crosses the border you can take action. you are never going to have peace over there. they don't want the people who got kicked out of the area. but they get everybody from russi

ally than israel. our alliance has been remarkably strong. but under your leadership i'm confident it will get even stronger. i look forward to working with you to dramatically upgrade our alliance in every field. in security, technology, cyber, trade, and so many others. and i certainly welcome your forthright call to ensure that israel is treated fairly at international forums and that the slander and boycotts of israel are resisted mightily by the power and moral position of the united states of america. as you have said, our alliance is based on a deep bond of common values and common interests. and increasingly, those values and interests are under attack by one malevolent force, radical islamic terror. mr. president, you have shown great clarity and courage in confronting this challenge head on. you call for confronting iran's terrorist regime, preventing iran from realizing this terrible deal into a nuclear arsenal. and you have said that the united states is committed to preventing iran from ge

and in israel, israel isa determination. and in israel, israel is ajewish determination. and in israel, israel is a jewish democratic state, and the meaning is that israel is the nationstate of the jewish people, with integral rise to all of its citizens, because it is a democracy, and because this is also ourjewish values. there is an argument that that has been tried for decades, or at least that has been the ambition for decades, unsuccessfully, which is perhaps one reason that the israeli president talks about annexing the occupied territories, and he says that there won't be one law for israel rallies and another for non— israelis, you would grant citizenship to all residents, and it would be one gallagher and democracy. this was the idea of many members, including my parents, after 1967. the idea was that we would give equal rights to those living between the jordan give equal rights to those living between thejordan river and the mediterranean sea, but in the end, this one, can lead to a situation in israel in which it would stop being a truejewish israel in whic

[applause] those of us who worry about the future of israel for those who support israel of israel and the palestinians reaching a peaceful resolution recognized that palestinian conflict involves says it does the of legitimate historical claims of people of the same region so let me be as clear as i can be. to oppose the policies of right wing in government does not make anti-israel or anti-semitic. imbedded. [applause] we cannot oppose the of policies of president trump's without being anti-american. we can oppose the policies of the netanyahu without being anti-israel we can oppose the of policies of islamic extremism without being anti-muslim. and as i have said many times peace means security medal me for every israeli but for every palestinian. with self-determination and civil rights for both peoples. these are based with the shared values that we condemn an anti-semitic bigotry to make society in more perfect society. the values of inclusiveness democracy and justice with the region and the world. [applause] united states will continue the unwavering commitment to the safety of

ally than israel. our alliance has been remarkably strong. but under your leadership i'm confident that we'll get even stronger. i look forward to working with you to dramatically upgrade our alliance in every field. in security, technology, cyber, trade, and so many others. and i certainly welcome your call to ensure that israel is treated fairly at international forums and that the slander and boycotts of israel are resisted mightily by the power and morale moral position of the united states of america. as you have said our alliance is , based on a deep bond of common values and common interests. and increasingly, those values and interests are under attack by one malevolent force, radical islamic terror. mr. president, you have shown great clarity and courage in confronting this challenge head on. you call for confronting iran's terrorist regime, preventing iran from realizing this terrible deal into a nuclear arsenal. and you have said that the united states is committed to preventing iran from ge

ally than israel. our hifs ha lives have been remarkably strong but i'm confident under your leadership will be even stronger. i would like to work with you to upgrade our alliance of every field and security and technology and cyber and trade andsome others and i certainly welcome your forthright call to ensure that israel is treated fairly in international forums. and that the slander and boycotts of israel are resisted mightily by the power and moral position of the united states of america. as you have said, our alliance is based on a deep bond of common values and common interests. and increasingly those values and interests are under attack by one manevolent force, radical islamic terror. mr. president, you have shown great clarity and courage in confronting this challenge head on. you call for confronting iran's terrorist regime, preventing iran from realizing this terrible deal into a nuclear arsenal. and you have said that united states is chommitted to preventing iran from getting nuclear wea

"israel must be destroyed." the iranian foreign minister said, our and ballistic missiles are not intended against any country, no. they write on the missile in hebrew, "israel must be destroyed." so, challenging iran on its violations of ballistic missiles, imposing sanctions on hezbollah, preventing them, making them pay for the terrorism that they have permitted through the middle east and beyond, will be on. i think that is a change that is clearly evident since president trump took office. i welcoeme that. let me say this. let me say this openly. i think it is long overdue. i think if we work together, and not just the united states and israel, but so many others in the region will see eye to eye on the great magnitude and danger of the iranian threat. iran's we can rollback aggression and danger. that's something that is important for israel, the arab states, but also for america. these guys are developing icbm's. they want to get to a nuclear arsenal, not a bomb, 100 bombs. they want to have the ability t

to support israel. what makes the so 's real relationship that it bipartisan is eally is for fundamentally a alliance.trategic today serves of s an at least in the minds of many american leaders as a democratic ny ideals. >> when it comes to advisors on and middle east peace, who does president trump rely on? > that's evolving quickly as well. david freeman served as his jewish and israel advisor campaign. a strong interest serious play for peace. bannon apparently has ecome one of his chief foreign policy advisors across the board this portfolio. host: carol, you're next. west virginia. morning.good 'm calling in i'm a life long generational democrat. support israel and i don't believe that a two-state solution would be the answer palestinians just want israel.out they don't want it to exist. my support is for israel and i hope it continues to be that way hope we continue to protect israel. democracy. true i thank you gentlemen and i hope you have a great day. thank you for that. an ink that you raise

ally than israel. our alliance has been remarkably strong but under your leadership i'm confident it will get even stronger. i look forward to working wiá you to dramatically upgrade our alliance in every field, in security, in technology, and cyber and trade and some others, and i certainly welcome your forthright call to insure that israel is treated fairly in international forums and that the slander and boycotts of israel are resisted mightily by the power and moral position of the united states of america. as you have said, our alliance is based on a deep bond of common values and common interests. and increasingly, those values and interests are under attack by one malevolent force, radical islamic terror. mr. president, you have shown great clarity and courage confronting this challenge head on. you call for confronting iran's terrorist regime, preventing iran from realizing this terrible deal into a nuclear arsenal. and you have said that the united states is committed to preventing iran from

and in israel, israel is a jewish democratic state, and the meaning is that israel is the nationstate of the jewish people, with equal rights to all of its citizens, because it is a democracy, and because this is, or these are also ourjewish values. there is an argument that that has been tried for decades, or at least that has been the ambition for decades, unsuccessfully, which is perhaps one reason that the israeli president reuven rivlin talks about annexing the occupied territories, and he says that there won't be one law for israelis and another for non—israelis, you would grant citizenship to all residents, and it would be one egalitarian democracy. this was the idea likud members, including my parents, basically after the 1967 law. the idea was that we would live happily ever after, giving equal rights to those living between thejordan river and the mediterranean sea, but in the end, this can lead to a situation in israel in which israel would stop being a jewish democratic state. and we would have a bi—national state, one state, with everybody living there, but i don't th

ambassador to israel. the israeli prime minister and his wife are meeting with the president of the united states and first lady melania. it is the first in person meeting since the president took office. we will bring you that news conference live. increasing tax revenue and while the cost will be borne by borrowers in the form of higher funding cost and the economy as a whole with less capital formation and the lower gdp, you have that on the other side of the equation. as you have said in the past, the cost-benefit analysis is difficult work and i agree, it is not easy, but it is not impossible and it is important 2010 the committee did work on this subject and researchers at george mason recently published a paper on the benefit and cost of a higher bank leverage ratio. how do we get to the right number? should it be 5%? 10% in the choice act? 23.5% as proposed by the minneapolis fed president? there is quite a range there and i don't expect you to say a number today, but can't you agree that a cost-be

/israel coordination. there's a precedent. i go back to the bush era between condi rice and sharon who basically said every step of the way of the barrier israelis called the fence that should be synchronized with the united states, not formally but quietly, before every round of the cabinet meetings in 2003 and 2004 they brought the maps to discuss this and i think that's important because i don't think any president wants surprises and i think the statement we saw at the end of king abdullah's meeting on thursday a couple hours later, whatever, was this idea of i don't think the -- the right shouldn't think that we're for settlements writ large, but he said new settlements might not be helpful. that might bring us back to the bush era period as opposed to saying they're part of the problem and not the solution, here you'd be saying some could be part of the solution and some are part of the problem so i see it kind of a reversion to the mean on the settlements issue. that might be useful here in trying to find a way. the u.s

what does israel really needs? the same that the others need, they need a reassurance of american leadership in the middle east so america's team, not a perfect metaphor, it is actually one in reality. that our team, israel, modern arab states, etc., our team has andptain that is effective is doing its job. that is what israel really needs. i think is an important test for the trump administration. will they play that captain's role for our team in the middle east? well, this leaves very quickly to the meeting next week. in some sense, maybe a little early or a little late for this meeting. a little late in the sense we sought he was not the first -- we saw he was not the first to town. the king of jordan. here first and did not have an appointment -- got here first and and not have appointment with president trump but found his way to not only have the meeting but be effective. and we saw by the end of the day of king of della'-- abdullah's meeting, a reflection of that. the first mild but still substantial, mild

/israel relations. speakers also provide a preview of the upcoming meeting between president trump and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in washington. this is just under 90 minutes. >> good afternoon. good afternoon and welcome to the washington institute. i'm rob satloff, director of the institute. i'm very happy to welcome all of you to this preview of next week's meeting between president trump and prime minister netanyahu. first, just a couple of comments. since we are beaming live to our own livestream audience and to the c-span audience, if i can ask everyone to please mute your cell phones, please no calls during this. feel free to tweet away if you like, but no ringers, please. secondly, i know that everyone here really came today not to hear david or me, but to hear our colleague dennis. regrettably, dennis came down with a horrible case of the flu. he's been in bed under doctor's care for the last three days and coming to talk about this topic was not going to make him feel any better

israel and the palestinians are happy, i‘m happy israel and the palestinians are happy, i'm happy with the one they like the best. he also addressed the issue of settlement building on the west bank. under international law, the settlements are illegal. the israeli parliament has retrospectively activated 400 homes. as far as settlements, i would like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit. we will work something out. but i would like to see a deal being made. i think a deal will be made. i know that every president would like to. most of them have not started until late because they have not thought it was possible. and it wasn't possible because they didn't do it. but we have known each other a long time. a smart man, great negotiator. and i think we're going to make a deal. it may be a bigger and better deal than people in this room even understand. that is a possibility let's see what we do. it's hard. he doesn't sound too optimistic! let'sjoin gary let's join gary o'donoghue in washington. it was a very interesting news conference. we seem to have given the last rite

that target israel. our administration is committed to working with israel and our common allies. and that includes working toward a peace agreement between israel and the palestinians. the united states will encourage a peace and really a great peace deal will be working on it very, very diligently. very important to me also. something we want to do. but it is the parties themselves who must directly negotiate such an agreement. we'll be beside them and working with themes as with any successful negotiation both sides have to make compromises, you know that right. >> both sides. >> i want the israeli people to know that the united states stands with israel in the struggle against terrorism. as you know mr. prime minister, our two nations will always condemn terrorist acts. peace requires nations to uphold the dignity of human life ton be a voice for all of those who are endangered and forgotten. those are the ideals to which we all, and will always aspire and commit. this will be the first of many produ

adi: welcome to israel. ashlee: thank you. armed with a law degree, and an mba, adi soffer-teeni heads a number of young companies and helped spur on israel's technology culture. now she runs facebook's israel operations. adi: today we have something like 5300 startups. by the way, there is no one country in a world that has that amount of start up success except for the u.s. 1400 startups in 2015. 1400 new startups. ♪ ashlee: women must serve alongside men in the military here. adi once hoped to fly jets, but because of the gender restrictions at the time, she ended up evaluating who could become a pilot. she see the time in the air force as crucial to her career. what is the uniqueness of the female experience in israel because of the military service? it must have some long-term effects. adi: yeah, i absolutely think it does. women in israel probably start their career life with more confidence, with a feeling that they also can, but in terms of women taking part, no, we are not -- i think that in israel we are probably b

a two-state solution for israel and for palestine. [ applause ] as a pro israel american jew, it is a high honor to introduce him today over the course of his career ambassador has served as a leading palestinian diplomat and negotiator, and representing the palestinian people around the world. last fall he joined speaking tour, a first of its kind between an american and palestinian leader speaking to packed house ask meeting with communes in seattle and san francisco, they helped showcase the value of open debate. as they wrote together in the seattle times these discussions allows to recognize our humanity and interest they are vital if we're going to move forward toward an solution that both sides can claim. our main focus must be the future. ambassador knows firsthand that negotiating compromise and peacemaking are built on critical debate. that hasn't stopped some from political organizations are outside the tent. ambassador, on behalf of j street cannot think of anything more appropriate for the pro israel pro peace movement than continuing to engage with us. that is why we are

israel relationship. you are a clinical partner for those of us who still believe in the transformative power of diplomacy. you are a vital contributor to the debate over the future of the middle east. to just applaud you for all of the work you have done and continue to do and really, the remarkable growth you have seen over a very short time. us in the senate these days are talking about supreme court politics. i have been thinking both in the context of that debate and in myparation for today about most favorite jurists. as a young law school student, i loved reading oliver wendell holmes and i thought about him when i was thinking of what to say this morning. holmes's senior year in college, he voluntarily enlisted in the massachusetts militia to join the union army during the civil war. few soldiers saw more action than homestead. he fought in the wilderness campaign, he was at chancellorsville, antietam. he saw hundreds of his friends and fellow soldiers all too vicious injuries. he returns to bosto

s anti-israel bias. finish we will never repeat the terrible mistake of resolution 2334 and allow one-sided security council resolutions to condemn israel. instead, we will push for action on the real threats we face in the middle east. we stand for peace. we support a solution to the israeli-palestinian conflicts that is negotiated directly between the two parties. as president trump reiterated in his meeting with the president netanyahu -- with the prime minister netanyahu yesterday. this only makes peace harder to attain birdies couraging one of the parties from going to the negotiating table. incredibly, the u.n. department of political affairs has an entire division devoted to palestinian affairs. imagine that. there is no division devoted to illegal missile launches from north korea, there is no division devoted to the world's number one state sponsor or terror, iran. the prejudiced approach -- the president's approach -- the present approach does the peace process no favors and bears no relationsh

ally than israel. our alliance has been remarkably strong. but under your leadership i'm confident that we'll get even stronger. i look forward to working with you to dramatically upgrade our alliance in ever field and security and technology, cyber and trade and so many other and i certainly welcome your call that israel is treated fairly and that the slander and boycotts of israel are resisted mightily by the power and morale position of the united states of the united states of america. as you have said our alliance is based on a deep bond of common values and common interest and increasingly those values and interests are under attack by one force, radical islamic terror. mr. president, you have shown great clarity and courage in confronting this challenge head on. you call for confronting ir iran's terrorist regime from turning this deal into a nuclear arsenal and you have said the united states is committed to preventing iran from getting nuclear weapons. you call for the defeat of isis. under yo

"israel must be destroyed." the foreign minister said our ballistic missiles are not intended against any country. they write in hebrew on the missile, israel must be destroyed. challenging iran on the violations of ballistic missiles, impossessing sanctions on hezbollah, and the terrorism throughout the middle east and well beyond. a change that is clearly evident since president trump took office, i welcome that. i think it is long overdue, if we work together, and not just the united states and israel. so many others. in the region, that see eye to eye on the great magnitude and danger of the iranian threat, i think that we can roll back iran's aggression and danger. that is something that is important for israel, the arab states, i think it is important for america. they are developing icbms, they want to get to a nuclear arsenal, not a bomb, a hundred bombs, they want the ability to launch them everywhere on earth, including and especially, eventually, the united states. so, this is something that is import

embassy to israel and mr. prime minister did you come here tonight to tell the president that you're backing off the two-state solution? thank you. >> so i'm looking at two-state and one-state and i like the one that both parties like. i'm very happy with the one that both parties like. i could live with either one. i thought for a while the two-state looked like it may be the easier of the two. but honestly, if b.b. and if the palestinians are -- israel and the palestinians are happy, i'm happy with the one they like the best. as far as the embassy moving to jerusalem, i'd love to see that happen. we're looking at it very, very strongly. we're looking at it with great care, great care, believe me. and we'll see what happens. okay? >> thank you. i read yesterday that an american official said that if you ask five people what two states would look like, you would get sath differeeight dif answers. mr. president, if you asked five israels you would get 12 different answers. but rather than deal with labels i wan

threat to israel's security. in contrast to its neighbors and at a time when forces of authoritarianism are on the rise in too many places, israel is and remains a vibrant democracy. lively civil a society, and energetic political discourse. its vibrant and diverse economy offers tremendous opportunities for its high-tech sector and a startup culture. our defense sector has collaborated to produce a life-saving missile-defense system. lively civil israel's innovative energy sector, one of the leaders in the world, puts israel in a position to be an energy provider to the region. the u.s. ambassador to israel plays a key role in engaging all communities within israel, all sectors of its economy, and representing our government and the american people. the u.s. ambassador also plays a vital role in opening u.s. embassy doors to all groups regardless of their politics or views. chartbassador will help the u.s. response to countering andel's isolation effectively and effectively counter the bbs movement which threate

trump asked israel to suspend production. president trump: as far as settlements, i would like to see you hold back on settlements for a bit. we will work something out. a deal will be made. >> when asked if the u.s. will continue its support for a two state solution, trump departed from washington's long-standing position. president trump: i am looking at two state and wednesday, and i like the one that both parties like. i can live with either one. >> trump also said he is carefully considering moving the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. prime minister netanyahu: i certainly welcome your forthright call to ensure that israel is treated fairly in international forms and the slander and boycotts of israel armistice that -- are resisted by the moral power of the united states of america. >> people will be watching what effect the new relationship will have on the ground in the middle east. brent: we want to bring in our correspondent in washington. she is on the story for us this evening. good evening to you. how would

s anti-israel bias. we will never repeat the terrible mistake of resolution 2334 and allow one-sided security council resolutions to condemn israel. instead we'll push for action on the real threats we face in the middle east. we stand for paste peace. we support a solution to the conflict that its negotiated directly between the two parties. president trump resident rated in his meeting with prime minister netanyahu yesterday. the 'biased resolutions from the security council the general assembly only make peace harder to attain by discouraging one of the parties from going to the negotiating table. incredibly the u can't of political affairs has an entire division devoted to palestinian affairs. imagine that there is no division devoted to illegal missile launches from north korea, no division devoted to the world's number one state sponsor of terror, iran, and the prejudiced approach to israely, palestinian issues does the peace pros know favors and bears no relationship to reality of the world around

ally than israel. our alliance has been remarkably strong, but under your leadership, i'm confident that we'll get even stronger. i look forward to working with you, to dramatically upgrade our alliance in every field, in security, in technology, and cyber and trade and so many others, and i certainly welcome your forth right call to insure that israel is treated fairly in international forums and that the slander and boycotts of israel are resisted mightily by the power and moral position of the united states of america. as you have said, our alliance is based on a deep bond of common values and common interests. increasingly, those values and interests are under attack by one malevolent force. radical islamic terror. mr. president, you have shown great clarity and courage in confronting the challenge head on. you call for confronting iran's terrorist regime preventing iran from realizing this terrible deal into a nuclear arsenal. you said that the united states is committed to preventing iran from ge

so the issue is not about israel it teaches nothing about israel but the state of the university. the universities in the western world are a moral cesspool if you don't know that you are probably jewish and i say that because they venerate the university so you must enter cognitive dissidence. >> maybe because i am from the university of chicago that when i think of my own appreciation and deism came through the university and taking courses with diversity of chicago with the intellectual seriousness and through a great scholar. we should be careful but i do agree that the way to have this conversation with respect of israel or israeli policies what it says about liberalism in the country today the people who describe themselves as liberals should travel with a movement at its heart is totalitarian. hamas is the islamist group that despises when bin and homosexuals out but point do they go desert over proposition day? -- eight but is cool to travel with hamas as a liberation movement? out what point does that distinct and -- distinction become blurred in the imagination of the am

they have to acknowledge israel. they have to acknowledge israel. they are going to have to do that. there is no way a deal can be made if they are not ready to acknowledge a very, very great and important country. and i think they are going to be willing to do that also. but now i also believe we are going to have other players at a very high level, and i think it may make it easier on both the palestinians and israel to get something done. thank you. very interesting question. thank you. you asked about iran. one thing is preventing iran from getting nuclear weapons, something that president trump and i, i think, are deeply committed to do. we are busy going to discuss that. president trump has led a very important effort in the past few weeks coming into the presidency. he pointed out that violations, the iranians violations on ballistic missile is. by the way, these ballistic missiles are inscribed in hebrew. israel must be destroyed. the iranians foreign minister said their missiles were not intended against any country. they write on the missi

ally than israel. our alliance has been remarkably strong. but under your leadership, i'm confident it will get even stronger. i look forward to working with you to dramatically upgrade our alliance in every field in security, in technology, in cyber and trade and so many others and i certainly welcome your forthright call to ensure that israel is treated fairly in international forums. and that the slander and boycotts of israel are resisted mightily by the power and moral position of the united states of america. as you have said, our alliance is based on a deep bond of common values and common and increasingly, those values and interests are under attack by one malevolent force. radical islamic terror. mr. president, you have -- you have shown great clarity and courage in confronting this challenge head-on. you call for confronting iran's terrorist regime, preventing iran from realizing this terrible deal into a nuclear arsenal. and you have said that the united states is committed to preventing ira

my relationship to israel, i am a liberal, pro-israel. i love israel not for religious or not only for religious reasons, not only for national reasons, not only for reasons of memory. i love israel because i think that on very -- [inaudible] israel is a model for democracies not in the area. [inaudible] i believe, for example, that in the way of dealing with ethnicity, in the way of dealing with minorities, in the way of building a democracy without sometimes in a democratic tradition which was the case for so many jews who arrived harassed, despaired from arab countries or from russia and reinvented democracy. there is in israel a pattern of democracy. this is one of the main reasons why i love israel, and this is one of the things which at least in my country i try to say and to recall as often as i can. rl am i heard enough? certainly not. certainly not. and there is, in france but all over the world, also in america, an attempt which sometimes achieve its goals of delegitimizing israel, of denying this democratic genius of israel whi

israel relationship. you are a critical partner for those who believe in the transformative power of diplomacy. you are a vital contributor to the debate over the future of the fiddle east and i'm here just to applaud you for all of the work you have done and continue to do and really the remarkable growth you've seen over a very short period of time. i've opinion thinking in the context of that debate and preparation for today about my most favorite law school student, i loved reading oliver wendle holms and during justice holm's senior year in college, he voluntarily enlisted in the massachusetts militia to join the union during the civil war. and frankly, few soldiers saw more action than homes did. he fought in the wilderness campaign and a chancellorsville and he nearly died and saw hundreds of his friends and fellow soldiers fall to vicious injuries. he returns to boston scared, deeply by what he saw and is experience in the civil war it deeply affected his view of the law as a professor and then la

israel was facing annihilation which they repeatedly said we are going to wipe out israel and drive the jews to the sea and that is how the so-called occupation again to take shape then they tried and found a rejectionist front for more than 25 years. israel has been in the business of trying to return and get out of occupation for the last 25 years but unfortunately time and again instead of meeting with a willing partne partner because s prepared to recognize a jewish state in some borders, it's met with palestinians either tell you to your face they mean to telkill you or a centrally behid your back. you go to any except for the most extreme and tha they wouldy okay here's the deal you get out of the occupation business and the palestinians will be coaster rica, any of them would take that deal. why would you not do that if i want to go to costa rica and sample local cuisines. it's not too much to ask. it's small, it's beautiful, it's a demilitarized. everyone says that it's outrageous how can you demand this, they want to stay and it's not on the agenda and no one could care less, s

part of israel. the west bank to tel aviv. one reason israel is keeping the west bank for control is so israel doesn't become vulnerable to attacks by the palestinians. and my solution would be two parts. all of the west bank with the -- belong to the palestinians. the next part, israel would still make and extend a landmass, a configuration off of an area near tel aviv and into the mediterranean sea. about 50 square miles, and it would connect to israel by land. and this way, if attacked, israel wouldn't be cut into. and china is building an island or islands in the south china sea with an average depth of 4802 feet. why not israel build a connecting landmass into the mediterranean sea where the average depth is 4926 feet. that is less than a mile. host: that is catherine's proposed solution. what has the trump administration said about peace in the middle east? guest: trump ran on a hard-line pro-israel stance. he pledgo

for israel's destruction. second, in any peace agreement israel must retain the overriding security control over the entire area west of the jordan river because if we don't, we know what will happen. because otherwise we'll get another radical islamic terrorist state in the palestinian areas exploding the peace, exploding the middle east. now unfortunately the palestinians reject both prerequisites for peace continuing to call for israel's destruction inside their schools, inside their mosques, inside the textbooks. you have to read it to believe it. they even deny, mr. president, our historical connection to our homeland. i suppose you have to ask jews. well the chinese are called chinese because they come from china. the japanese because they come from japan. jews are not foreign in judea. they not only deny the past, they also poison the present. and public squares in honor of mask murderers who murdered israelis and americans, they pay monthly salaries to the families of murderers like the family of the t

our security assistance to israel is currently at an all-time high ensure that israel has the ability to defend itself from threats of which there are unfortunately many. >> president trump asked the prime minister to hold back on the construction of settlements and push for a peace deal with the palestinians, and pushed through two -- they must recognize an israeli state and give them control of the area west of the jordan river and trump did not take questions on the bombshell report that his campaign was in touch with russian officials before the election. and we'll have much more on the meeting with president trump and netanyahu on world news tonight with david murat 6:30. >>> now to the accuweather forecast. a nice day today and temperatures are falling. david murphy has the details from accuweather. >> the weekend will be wonderful and we have a couple of sprinkles and showers and i like the picture of sky 6 hd you had up of the ben franklin bridge with the sun coming out and showers off the coast and showers and sprinkles redeveloping to the north and west and it looks like the