US Ambassador to Israel Shapiro Delivers Strong Accusations Against Israel

“We are being subjected to a terrorist onslaught that is simply unfamiliar to the USA, and to pass judgment on us in such a one-sided manner is wrong”.

Ambassador Shapiro was addressing the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference in Tel Aviv, stating there is “too much vigilantism in the West Bank that goes unchecked”.

Israel plans to appropriate a large tract of agricultural land in the occupied West Bank, Israel’s Army Radio said on Wednesday, a move that has angered Palestinians and is nearly certain to draw global criticism. “We do not view labeling the origin of products as being from the settlements a boycott of Israel”. Most countries regard the policy as illegal under worldwide law and a major obstacle to the creation of a viable Palestinian state.

“There is a lack of thorough investigations … at times it seems Israel has two standards of adherence to rule of law in the West Bank – one for Israelis and one for Palestinians”.

The Arab MKs further said that all those who disagree with Israel and criticize its “crimes” against the “Palestinian people” are condemned by the state as being hostile and racist.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the European Union statement had been “softened” thanks to lobbying by the ministry and by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but said the European Union had ignored the Palestinian Authority’s responsibility for the freeze in peace negotiations.

“Israel applies the law to Israelis and Palestinians.

This hatred has an address; this is incitement by the Palestinian Authority and other elements such as the Islamic Movement and Hamas, and the time has come for the global community to stop its hypocrisy”.

“If these employers truly cared about the financial wellbeing of Palestinians, they should be lobbying their own government to lift its discriminatory restrictions and end its settlement policies”, she said. Palestinians and rights groups say that Israelis suspected in violence against Palestinians are rarely brought to justice, while Palestinian attackers are quickly arrested or killed.

It also stresses that “EU agreements with the State of Israel are only applicable to the State of Israel and not to the settlements”.

Daniel Shapiro, the USA ambassador to Israel, said this week that America was “concerned and perplexed” at how Israel continues to expand settlements while saying it supports a two-state solution.

The complaint coincides with the release Tuesday of a report by Human Rights Watch that said that businesses operating in settlements contribute to and benefit from “an inherently unlawful and abusive system that violates the rights of Palestinians”.

Netanyahu’s office responded angrily to the comments.