US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman on Wednesday spoke at the Kohelet Forum Conference, emphasizing that Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria are not in violation of international law.
"A little bird has told me that you may be discussing today what you refer to as the 'Pompeo Doctrine' -categorically illegal," Friedman said, noting that he serves as "the US ambassador to a critical ally in a the determination by the Secretary of State that Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria is not dangerous region."
"Since coming here l've worked to add one more item to a busy agenda: helping to find a fix to the issues that still linger from the Six Day War.
"In just six days of battle, Israel tripled in size, gained critical buffers against its enemies, reunited Jerusalem and demonstrated to the entire world that it was here to stay. In the years that followed, Israel entered into peace treaties with two of the warring nations on its border – Egypt and Jordan - and it returned more than 88% of the land that it captured.
"But it didn't make peace with everyone and when we came into office the lingering issues included three of significant importance: the status of 1) Jerusalem, 2) the Golan Heights and 3) Judea and Samaria. We have approached them in ascending order of complexity.
"With regard to Jerusalem, we were assisted by a 22 year old statute passed overwhelmingly, and reaffirmed in subsequent years, again overwhelmingly, by the Congress of the United States. From any and every vantage point, whether US law, biblical history or the facts on the ground, it was undeniably true that Jerusalem was the capital of Israel
"If you read the statute, there is an affirmative mandate for such recognition. While the move of the embassy was subject to presidential waiver on the grounds of national security, the recognition itself had no such feature. For 22 years I watched from a distance as this law on the books of America was simply ignored by Republican and Democratic president alike."
