President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that John Bolton would become his next national security advisor, replacing Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster.
Bolton, who has served in various high-level capacities in the last three Republican administrations, including as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, has advocated a strong stance against North Korea and Iran, and has publicly expressed pro-Israel positions on numerous occasions.
After former President Barack Obama allowed the passage of a December 2016 U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement building, Bolton declared that Obama “stabbed Israel in the front” and “clearly intended to tip the peace process toward the Palestinians.”
Bolton has also expressed disdain for a two-state solution, telling Breitbart Radio that “the two-state solution is dead.” In 2014, he penned an op-ed in The Washington Times suggesting a three-state solution in which Gaza would be given to Egypt and West Bank to Jordan.
“The only logic underlying the demand for a Palestinian state is the political imperative of Israel’s opponents to weaken and encircle the Jewish state, thereby minimizing its potential to establish secure and defensible borders,” he wrote.
In an article in The New York Times in May 2015, Bolton proffered that if Israel wanted to militarily attack Iran as a means of halting its nuclear program, “time is terribly short, but a strike can still succeed,” and suggested that American support for Iran’s opposition could ensure long-lasting change in the country.
Top Israeli officials lauded praise on the appointment of Bolton, calling him a “stalwart friend of Israel.”
Israeli Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked congratulated Bolton on the appointment, calling him a “true friend of Israel,” and praising Trump for the nomination. “The Trump administration is increasingly showing itself to be the most supportive [administration] of Israel ever,” she said.
Education Minister and Jewish Home Party head Naftali Bennett tweeted his support of Bolton, calling him “an extraordinary security expert, experienced diplomat and a stalwart friend of Israel,” adding, “Good luck John!”
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon responded by saying that Bolton is a “true friend of Israel going back many years, someone with a great deal of knowledge about the inner workings of the government.”