The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday that it rejects the finding of a new report by Amnesty International that accuses Israel of apartheid and “a system of oppression and domination” over the Palestinians.
“We reject the view that Israel’s actions constitute apartheid,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday. “We don’t offer our own public comprehensive evaluations of reports, but we certainly reject the label that has been attached to this when speaking about Israel.”
In response to the State Department’s comments, Amnesty International USA said that it urges “the Biden administration to consider the role of the U.S. government in bringing an end to the Israeli government’s ongoing human rights violations.”
Amnesty said it is specifically calling on the Biden administration to investigate and issue “a public report on the credible evidence of Israeli forces’ use of U.S.-made weapons, security aid and Israeli arms bought with U.S. funds to commit grave human-rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
“The Biden administration has repeatedly committed to center human rights and to stand for ‘a world in which human rights are protected’ and rights abusers ‘are held accountable.’ The United States must apply that standard everywhere, equally—and not make exceptions for allies.”
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, where he discussed the Biden administration’s goal of strengthening America’s relationship with the P.A. and the Palestinian people, in addition to the need to improve the quality of life for Palestinians in tangible ways.
