2nd thread of leftovers from this interview w/ @USAmbIsrael begins here.

On the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif:
Trump peace plan held a contradiction: The status quo — Muslim prayer only, other faiths can visit but not pray — should “continue uninterrupted” and be “preserved”; but “people of every faith should be permitted to pray” there. /26

Last yr, DF clarified that WH hoped this would happen by agreement, but wouldn't impose it. But then UAE & Bahrain peace deals stated that Muslims may pray “at al-Aqsa Mosque, and Jerusalem’s other holy sites should remain open for peaceful worshippers of all faiths.” /27

Careful readers like @DanielSeidemann noted this cd reduce Muslim exclusive to the mosque, but leave rest of Temple Mount open to Jewish prayer — shattering status quo and fulfilling longstanding Muslim fears. I asked @USAmbIsrael if he disagreed with that reading. /28

“No,” he said, “but I think it remains aspirational. But I don’t disagree with the language.” He went on to acknowledge the “sensitivities."
"Aspirationally, we would like to get to a place of greater openness. But we’re not there yet. We’re not going to force it.” /29

Thx to @USAmbIsrael David Friedman for his time: Intvu ran > 2 hours. Lots of important/interesting stuff didn’t make it into piece. But for students of the conflict, it’s worth setting down some of that here. This will take 2 threads. Here goes 1st.

Straining credulity, he insisted there’d been no pressure campaign vs. the Palestinians. “I would call it minimal accountability, not maximum pressure,” he said — “holding them accountable to sort of basic norms of conduct.” /2

E.g., after PA Pres. Mahmoud Abbas defied Congress and urged the Int'l Criminal Court to prosecute Israelis, allowing the PLO mission to remain in Washington would have required the administration to defy Congress, too. “None of us wanted to shut down the mission,” DF said./3

Similarly, he argued that attacking UNRWA was not tantamount to harming the Palestinians, it was about defunding a “corrupt, decidedly unhelpful” agency that “perpetuates rather than relieves” suffering./4

“Almost every single thing that was adverse to the Palestinians by way of aid was completely avoidable” had they conformed to U.S. laws, he said: “These were all unforced errors on their part.” /5