Post by Logan on Jan 19, 2016 22:14:56 GMT -6
JERUSALEM — Israeli leaders on Tuesday sharply criticized U.S. Ambassador Daniel Shapiro’s observation that the law in the occupied West Bank is applied differently to Palestinians and Israelis, calling it “unacceptable” and demanding a retraction.
Shapiro’s comments would strike many as a statement of fact: Palestinians in the West Bank live under military occupation, face Israeli military tribunals and can be held for months, even years, without charges; the Jewish settlers in the territory, however, are subject to Israeli civilian courts.
But the plainly critical remarks by the U.S. diplomat in a speech at a security think tank Monday angered Israel’s top leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called them “unacceptable and wrong.”
The diplomatic skirmish comes as Israel finds itself facing renewed criticism from the European Union for the continued expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a complaint that Shapiro echoed in his remarks.
Continued at www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/us-ambassadors-comments-ignite-diplomatic-row-with-israel/2016/01/19/2fcca4b6-beb2-11e5-98c8-7fab78677d51_story.html?tid=pm_world_pop_b
Shapiro’s comments would strike many as a statement of fact: Palestinians in the West Bank live under military occupation, face Israeli military tribunals and can be held for months, even years, without charges; the Jewish settlers in the territory, however, are subject to Israeli civilian courts.
But the plainly critical remarks by the U.S. diplomat in a speech at a security think tank Monday angered Israel’s top leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called them “unacceptable and wrong.”
The diplomatic skirmish comes as Israel finds itself facing renewed criticism from the European Union for the continued expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a complaint that Shapiro echoed in his remarks.
Continued at www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/us-ambassadors-comments-ignite-diplomatic-row-with-israel/2016/01/19/2fcca4b6-beb2-11e5-98c8-7fab78677d51_story.html?tid=pm_world_pop_b
