(Rebecca Cook/Reuters)
Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. accused Representative Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) of “stoking tensions” with her recent comments about the conflict between Israel and Palestinians and suggested her words “encourage terror groups such as Hamas” to “carry out attacks against Jews.”
“Congresswoman @RashidaTlaib maybe you should open your eyes to the whole picture? Islam’s 3rd holiest site is being used to stockpile Molotov cocktails and rocks that are being lobbed at the police and at Jewish worshippers praying at the Western Wall, below the Temple Mount,” ambassador Gilad Erdan wrote in a tweet on Monday.
Biden Administration Condemns Rocket Attacks Against Israel
The Biden Administration on Tuesday issued statements condemning rocket attacks aimed at Israel amid escalating tensions between Jerusalem and the Hamas terrorist group across the Gaza strip.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at a press conference that President Joe Biden last week “directed his team to engage intensively with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials, as well as leaders throughout the Middle East” to communicate a “clear and consistent message in support of de-escalation.”
“The President’s support for Israel’s security, for its legitimate right to defend itself, and its people is fundamental and will never waver. We condemn ongoing rocket attacks by Hamas and other terrorist groups, including against Jerusalem,” Psaki said at a Tuesday press briefing. “We also stand against extremism that has inflicted violence on both communities. Jerusalem, a city of such importanc
Israel Violence Opens Painful Rupture Between Joe Biden, Pro-Palestine Progressives
On 5/12/21 at 11:04 AM EDT
President Joe Biden has so far been quiet on the spiraling violence between Israel and Palestinian factions, sparked by a land ownership dispute in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem that has since escalated into the worst exchanges of fire since 2014.
The president is under pressure to act to stop the familiar escalation of violence. At least 48 people including 14 children have been killed in the Palestinian Gaza Strip by Israel Defense Forces airstrikes, with six people killed in Israel by rocket barrages and an anti-tank missile fired by Palestinian militant forces inside the blockaded coastal enclave.