US envoy chides Palestinians for ‘ugly’ Jerusalem response

JERUSALEM – The U.S. ambassador to Israel says the Palestinian response to President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was “needlessly provocative.”

In an interview with the Jerusalem Post daily, David Friedman says the Palestinians overreacted to Trump’s declaration and that some of their response to it has been “ugly,” ”largely emotional” and “anti-Semitic.”

Friedman also says in the interview, published in part on Thursday, that there will be no peace process without U.S. involvement. “There is no path around the United States,” he said.

Trump’s Jerusalem pivot upended decades of U.S. policy and countered an international consensus that Jerusalem’s fate should be decided in direct negotiations. His declaration sparked protests across the Palestinian territories, and Palestinian leaders said Washington could no longer serve as a Mideast peace broker.