An undiplomatic choice
Donald Trump picks a hardliner as ambassador to Israel
FOR a new American president to pick an ambassador with no experience in trade, cultural or any other form of diplomacy is not particularly remarkable. These appointments tend to be rewards for loyalty, friendship and financial backing during the campaign. What is most unusual, however, is to appoint someone who is pronouncedly undiplomatic and espouses extremist views on the politics of the country he will be sent to. Yet that is what the president-elect, Donald Trump, did on December 16th by choosing David Friedman, his bankruptcy lawyer and campaign adviser, as America’s next ambassador to Israel.