Powerline reports via Washington Free Beacon: “State Dept. blames Israel for terrorism, claims Palestinians rarely incite attacks” (July 20) and “Trump State Dept. unsure why Palestinian terrorists kill Israelis” (July 21).
Our question: Assuming President Trump ever had control of his administration, is he losing it or has he given it away to Obama holdovers and his own “curious” appointees (e.g.. Tillerson)?
(Another question: Would President Trump have appointed Rex had he known his department would produce a report like this?)
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“The State Department’s response prompted a fierce backlash among U.S. officials and Trump administration insiders, who said the State Department under the leadership of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has gone rogue and is out of line with the White House’s position on a range of sensitive diplomatic issues, including the Israeli-Palestinian impasse.”
We would also note that Secretary Tillerson is “hot for climate change”!
From Bloomberg News, 12/16/16:
“Unlike the president-elect, Tillerson, the chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corp., supports both the global climate-change accord forged in Paris last year and a carbon tax. So the main question for Tillerson may be this: How will he manage his relationship with his new boss?”
And now we must wonder about Mr. Scaramucci (or is it “Scare-a-muchy”?, as we noted earlier today; let’s hope for the best!
DLH
Aux. note: Gary Bower at Campaign for Working Families has a spin on the nonsense. We just don’t find a convincing excuse for this, how any report gets out without review, personnel holdups or not. Heads should roll. With regard to the changeover in the White House Communications Department, we wonder how long Sara Huckabee and Scaramucci can coexist (unless Scaramucci is now pro- Israel pro-life and less enamored with Hillary Clinton).
Stop Blaming Israel, Meanwhile, In Jerusalem. . .
Stop Blaming Israel
The State Department’s latest report on terrorism incredibly attempts to blame Israel for growing tensions while whitewashing the Palestinian Authority’s responsibility for violence. Consider this excerpt:
“The PA [Palestinian Authority] has taken significant steps during President Abbas’ tenure (2005 to date) to ensure that official institutions . . . under its control do not create or disseminate content that incites violence. . . Explicit calls for violence . . . are rare and the leadership does not generally tolerate it.”
That statement is disgusting and obscene. There isn’t enough space to list the many instances of official Palestinian incitement. But trust me, it is anything but “rare.” Here, here, here and here.
Moreover, there is another form of official Palestinian incitement — the PA actually subsidizes terrorism against Israelis. It just increased its budget for its so-called “martyr’s fund payments” by 12% to more than $330 million a year.
The president, vice president and every major West Wing figure disagrees with the State Department’s analysis. But outrages like this will continue until the stonewalling of confirmations is overcome and competent political appointees are in charge of the bureaucracy.
In the meantime, the individuals who produced this report, knowing it was at odds with administration policy, should be fired if possible or reprimanded and reassigned at a minimum.
