Trump’s former Israel envoy Friedman dismisses Hamas deal as 'waste of time'

Former U.S. Ambassador David Friedman, who served as Washington’s Israel envoy during President Trump’s first presidency, praised Trump for his tough language towards the Iranian-backed terrorist organization Hamas.

"President Trump brilliantly presented Hamas with a binary choice: release all the hostages and surrender, or be destroyed," Friedman wrote on the social media platform 𝕏.

However, the former ambassador continued by criticizing the Trump administration’s envoy Adam Boehler’s recent negotiations with Hamas concerning the release of the remaining hostages as a “waste of time.”

"If I heard Adam Boehler correctly on the Sunday news shows, he took the unprecedented step to meet with Hamas to consider a third way – whether a deal could be struck where Hamas 'would not be involved' in governing Gaza,” Friedman continued.

Friedman concluded by stressing that a deal with Hamas is a “waste of time” as the terror group has a long history of violating agreements.

"A deal with Hamas is a waste of time and will never be kept. Attempting one is beneath the dignity of the United States. Adam, I know you mean well, but listen to your boss. The choice must remain binary," Friedman stated.

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close Netanyahu ally, reportedly “lashed out” at Boehler for initiating separate U.S. negotiations with the terror group.

“I understand the consternation and the concern. I wasn’t upset,” Boehler told media outlets.

However, he defended the separate negotiation efforts with Hamas by arguing that the United States has its own interests and is not “an agent of Israel.”

“At the same time, we’re the United States. We’re not an agent of Israel. We have specific interests at play,” Boehler argued, adding that he had tried to put Dermer “at ease” and convince the senior Israeli envoy “that I wouldn’t go off the rails.”

“Israel is our best ally,” Boehler concluded.

Friedman reportedly played a crucial role behind Trump’s decision in December 2017 to formally recognize Jerusalem as the Jewish state’s de facto capital.

Friedman has also backed Israel’s legal, security and historical claims to Judea and Samaria, internationally known as the “West Bank.”

“Israel has the right to retain some, but unlikely all, of the West Bank,” Friedman assessed.

In March 2024, Friedman articulated his opposition to the two-state solution, which was backed by the former Biden administration and is still advocated by much of the international community.

“The president and the secretary of state began to speak more and more about a two-state solution, how important that is… I'm thinking the world [is] just upside down,” Friedman told Joel Rosenberg, ALL ISRAEL NEWS editor-in-chief and the host of THE ROSENBERG REPORT.

Friedman argued that the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre proved that Israel’s immediate neighbors could not be trusted to run a peaceful state next to the Jewish state. Instead, Friedman advocated a one-state solution with limited self-governance for the Muslim Arab population in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, but in which Israel retains the overall security responsibility.

Friedman has recently backed Trump’s unconventional Gaza plan to rebuild the coastal enclave and resettle its population in Arab or Muslim countries as a solution to the intractable conflict.