(Note: please see Towering Trump blog for more information on Friedman’s association with and ideas about Israel.)

❶ . US President-elect Donald Trump donated $10,000 to Beit El in the West Bank in 2003
❷ . Group  [Friends of Beit El Settlement]  headed by Trump’s Israel envoy pick sued for war crimes
❸ . Beit El Institutions expresses its warmest blessings to David Friedman in his new position
❹ . Molotov cocktails burn down house in illegal settlement of Beit El in Palestine
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❶ . US  PRESIDENT-ELECT  DONALD  TRUMP  DONATED  $10,000  TO  BEIT EL  IN  THE  WEST  BANK  IN  2003
Jerusalem Post Israel News‎ 
Dec. 18, 2016 – US President-elect Donald Trump donated $10,000 to Beit El in the West Bank in 2003, according to documents uncovered by The Jerusalem Post Sunday.
___A Trump Foundation tax form from 2003 shows Trump gave the sum to American Friends of Beit El. Other Jewish organizations the Trump Foundation donated to that year are UJA-Federation, American Jewish Committee and American Jewish Historical Society.   [. . . .]  A decade later, Trump’s choice for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, would become president of the organization, which is the settlement’s fund-raising operation, bringing in about $2 million annually.      More . . .
❷ . GROUP   [FRIENDS OF BEIT EL SETTLEMENT]   HEADED  BY  TRUMP’S  ISRAEL  ENVOY  PICK  SUED  FOR  WAR  CRIMES  
The Electronic Intifada
Ali Abunimah
Dec. 16, 2016 – President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US ambassador to Israel is the head of an organization that is being sued by Palestinians for its role in the theft of their land for settlements and other Israeli war crimes.
___Announcing the nomination, the Trump transition team said that David Friedman would serve from Jerusalem . . . the new administration intends to move the US embassy to the city from its current location in Tel Aviv.
___Friedman is being described as “more extreme” even than the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
[. . . .]    Friedman is president of American Friends of Bet El Yeshiva Center, a nonprofit organization that raises about $2 million a year, mostly for the Beit El settlement, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
[. . . .]  ___The lawsuit argues that directly supporting Israeli settlements with tax-exempt charitable funds amounts to money laundering and tax fraud and aids and abets crimes including theft of Palestinian property, home demolitions, maiming, murder, ethnic cleansing and even genocide.       More . . . 

❸ . From  American  Friends  of  Bet  El  Yeshiva  Center’s  Facebook  Page
BET  EL  INSTITUTIONS  EXPRESSES ITS WARMEST BLESSINGS TO DAVID FRIEDMAN IN HIS NEW POSITION as US Amb to Israel. In his position as President of Bet El Institutions, Mr. Friedman has been a pioneer philanthropist and builder of Jewish institutions and housing projects in Judea and Samaria (AKA the West Bank) and throughout the country. His vital and valorous role in the rebuilding of Israel has earned him the trust and respect of the Israeli People, a key factor which will enable him to best fulfill his duties in representing US interests in Israel. Bet El Institutions is proud to be closely associated with Mr. Friedman and wishes him much success in strengthening the historic ties between the United States and the state of Israel.     -Baruch Gordon, Director of Development for Bet El Institutions and IsraelNationalNews.com.          More . . . 
❹ . MOLOTOV  COCKTAILS  BURN  DOWN  HOUSE  IN  ILLEGAL  SETTLEMENT  OF  BEIT  EL  IN  PALESTINE        
Al Bawaba News
Nov. 12, 2016 – An Israeli home in the illegal Beit El settlement, located in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah and al-Bireh, was left completely burned down late Thursday night after a group of Palestinian youth threw Molotov cocktails into the settlement, according to Palestinian sources.
___According to locals, several youths threw the Molotov cocktails at the house, which was located on the outskirts of the settlement. The house then caught on fire and burned to the ground.   More . . .
RELATED:
Israeli soldiers open fire on Palestinians near [Beit El] settlement, hitting one, Israeli media says   Ma’an News Agency   Oct. 23, 2016    More . . .  
Settlement buildings bulldozed in Israel [Beit El Settlement], but Netanyuhu calls for more construction   Los Angeles Times      Jul. 29, 2015    More . . .
Israel to build 800 new housing units in West Bank   
The Middle East Monitor – MEMO    July 30, 2015    More . . .  
PA slams plans for 90 new homes in Beit El settlement   Jerusalem Post    Feb. 11, 2013
More . . .