The U.S. Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, an outspoken bankruptcy lawyer aligned with the Israeli right. The vote was 52 to 46. That amount of opposition is highly unusual for a nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel, a close ally of the United States. For decades, nominees from both Democratic and Republican presidents have been approved without objection, via unanimous consent or voice votes. Friedman, who has no diplomatic experience, is a longtime friend of Trump who worked for the Republican former New York businessman as a bankruptcy lawyer.
