Supporters of Israel Furious at SecState Tillerson for Annual Terror Report
By: Michael Friedson
Source: The Media Line
The newly-issued US State Department annual report on terrorism has enraged pro-Israel supporters and triggered calls for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s resignation. Although the 2016 version is virtually identical to the previous report issued in the final year of the Obama administration, critics insist the new document is not only inaccurate, but is completely out of step with President Trump’s own policies and pronouncements regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One example is the report’s assertion that the Palestinian Authority “rarely” incites to violence while a Congressional battle is under way over the Taylor Force Act which, if passed, would cut-off funding to the Palestinian Authority until it ends stipends and awards paid to families of terrorists killed while attacking Israelis. The assertion that Palestinian terrorism results from Palestinian’s “lack of hope” also infuriates the report’s critics who argue that much of the text is taken verbatim from anti-Israel sources. Calls for Secretary Tillerson to step down are predicated upon his notable differences of opinion with the president and his own actions such as telling Congress that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had agreed to end terrorists’ stipends when it was patently untrue.