Story highlights The former senator defended Trump's selection for Israel ambassador

Trump condemned a UN resolution halting settlement construction as "unfair" to Israel

(CNN) Former Sen. Joe Lieberman on Thursday defended President-elect Donald Trump's controversial selection as the next Israel ambassador, explaining that "some of the things he said really don't reflect what he believes."

"I think you're going to find in the weeks ahead in the confirmation process on David Friedman that it's going to be very clear that he wants -- he and President Trump want to be a part of achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians -- and that some of the things he said don't really reflect what he believes," Lieberman said in an interview on "New Day."

"I think you'll find along the way that he will express some regrets," added Lieberman, a prominent Jewish American politician who also ran as Al Gore's vice president in 2000.

Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer with long-held hardline views on Israel, was tapped to serve as US ambassador to Israel last Friday.

He courted controversy earlier this year when he called supporters of the progressive Jewish advocacy group J Street "worse than kapos" for supporting a two-state solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- something he staunchly opposes. Kapos were Jews in Nazi concentration camps who were put in charge of other inmates and worked with the Nazis.

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