Former CIA Director John Brennan blasted President Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday after at least 52 Palestinians protesting Trump’s decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem were killed by Israeli troops in Gaza.
“Deaths in Gaza result of utter disregard of Messers Trump & Netanyahu for Palestinian rights & homeland,” Brennan wrote on Twitter.
“By moving Embassy to Jerusalem, Trump played politics, destroyed US peacemaker role. New generation of Israelis/Palestinians need to isolate extremists to find path to peace,” he added.
Deaths in Gaza result of utter disregard of Messers Trump & Netanyahu for Palestinian rights & homeland. By moving Embassy to Jerusalem, Trump played politics, destroyed US peacemaker role. New generation of Israelis/Palestinians need to isolate extremists to find path to peace.
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) May 14, 2018
The protests and deaths were reported hours before the U.S. officially opened its new embassy with a celebration attended by White House advisers first daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, as well as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
But White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said, “The responsibility for these tragic deaths rests squarely with Hamas.”
“Hamas is intentionally and cynically providing this response, and as the secretary of state said, Israel has the right to defend itself,” Shah said during Monday’s briefing.
Trump’s decision in 2017 to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv further strained Israeli-Palestinian relations because Palestinians also call Jerusalem their capital.
Brennan served as CIA director from March 2013 until January 2017 under former President Barack Obama, but was also acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center from 2004 until 2005 during the George W. Bush administration.
