Unfortunately, I don't see Friedman's appointment as being a big departure from actual U.S. policy toward Israel (as distinct from its spoken policy) .
 
Contrast the US reaction to the deaths of women and children due to Syrian government bombing of Aleppo with US reaction to the deaths of women and children due to Israeli government bombing of Gaza. 
 
It's like night and day, but the situations are the same: a population rebelling against oppression by its masters is mercilessly slaughtered by a vastly superior government force in order to subdue it. 
 
It's very difficult to see what the US has done for Palestinians beyond weak, toothless, ineffectual criticism of Israeli government policies and actions that perpetuate their misery. Maybe Trump's ambassador pick moving to Jerusalem would be a simple act of honesty and integrity that acknowledges the reality, for a change.