There Must Be Normal Equivalency in Mid-East Policy

One way that U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman demonstrated the principle of standing with America’s allies was by personally offering condolences for victims of terror. In the past, some ambassadors would offer condolences for U.S. citizens killed by terrorism, though it was not a regular practice. When Friedman arrived in Israel, he made it a policy that he or I, and often both of us, would make a condolence call to the family of every single terror victim in Israel. A disproportionate number of these people lived in the West Bank, where visits involved highly technical security coordination. Nonetheless, we considered these visits important, though it wasn’t until March 2019 that I fully grasped the significance.