Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., on Wednesday demanded that Secretary of State John Kerry disown U.S. Ambassador Daniel Shapiro’s recent criticism of Israel’s resettlement policy in the West Bank, and said those comments show disunity toward Israel at a time when it’s under attack in the Middle East.
“Now more than ever, the United States must unequivocally stand with Israel, our strongest ally in the Middle East,” Roskam wrote to Kerry. “Repeated public displays of disunity only serve to weaken our relationship, inhibit peace efforts, and incite further hatred.”
“Ambassador Shapiro’s troubling remarks are counterproductive and wrong,” he added. “I encourage you to reject these misguided comments and reaffirm our unbreakable support for Israel.”
Shapiro said the U.S. was “concerned and perplexed” by Israel’s resettlement policy, a line that has caused public controversy in Israel, a country whose relationship with the U.S. is cooler in the wake of the Iranian nuclear agreement.
“The ambassador’s comments are inaccurate,” Roskam wrote. “Since its founding, Israel has consistently agreed to painful concessions in the name of peace, only to met with swift rebuke from Palestinian and Arab leadership.”
“The United States must unequivocally stand with Israel,” Roskam said. “Israel faces strategic and geopolitical threats from nearly every direction.”
Roskam also critiqued advantages Iran, Israel’s enemy, is set to enjoy as a result of implementation of the Iranian nuclear deal.
“Hamas and Hezbollah are well-positioned to benefit from our newly consummated nuclear agreement with their patron Iran,” he wrote. “President Obama himself has admitted that the more than $100 billion in sanctions relief destined for Iran may end up in the hands of the regime’s terror proxies.”
Read Roskam’s letter here:
b |
