Lawmaker: Obama Admin Fueling ‘Campaign to Destroy Israel’

A leading member of the congressional Israel caucus says the Obama administration is fueling hatred against the Jewish state following comments by a top U.S. diplomat accusing Israel of not upholding democratic rule of law, according to a letter sent Wednesday to the State Department and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

Rep. Peter Roskam (R., Ill.), co-chair of the House Republican Israel Caucus, lashed out at the administration, chastising it for seeking to inflame a diplomatic fight with Israel as the Jewish state grapples with a new wave of Palestinian terror attacks that has killed and wounded many civilians.

Dan Shapiro, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, elicited a sharp rebuke from Israeli leaders Tuesday when he accused the Jewish state of failing to properly investigate crimes committed against Palestinians.

“Too many attacks on Palestinians lack a vigorous investigation or response by Israeli authorities, too much vigilantism goes unchecked, and at times there seem to be two standards of adherence to the rule of law: one for Israelis and another for Palestinians,” Shapiro said, referring to this as “unacceptable.”

Shapiro’s comments came the same day that Dafna Meir, an Israeli mother of six who was stabbed to death last week in her home by a Palestinian terrorist, was buried.

Israeli leaders accused Shapiro of promulgating lies used by Israel’s critics to delegitimize the Jewish state.

Shapiro’s comments prompted Roskam to write Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday to demand that he distance the Obama administration from Shapiro’s remarks.

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