The United States Ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, responded on Twitter Tuesday afternoon to the security tensions Israel is under due to the terrorist attack in Eli and Monday’s activity in Jenin by Israeli forces; his “neutral” like comments and refusal to call the perpetrators of the attack Palestinian terrorists caused quite a stir amongst Israeli officials.
“Deeply concerned about the civilian deaths and injuries that have occurred in the West Bank these past 48 hours, including that of minors. Praying for the families as they mourn the loss of loved ones, or tend to those injured”, Nides wrote. After the initial explosion of criticism from many sides. Nides later added: "I condemn in the strongest terms the senseless murder of four innocent Israelis today — my heart is with their grieving family members.”
Ambassador Tom Nides equates Israeli victims of terror with Palestinian terrorists killed in Jenin by Israel's military@owenalterman breaks it down with @benitalevin pic.twitter.com/2nVXfmEH3h
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) June 20, 2023
Arsen Ostrovsky, CEO of the International Legal Forum, responded on Twitter to Nides. “Mr. Ambassador, might you clarify your statement? Are you referring to today’s massacre of four Israelis, by Palestinian terrorists in Eli? Or that Israel was forced to defend its citizens from terrorists in Jenin yesterday?” he wrote. “I sincerely hope you are not implying moral equivalence.”
Even Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, in an extremely rare comment, hinted at his disappointment towards his American counterpart. “Today, yet another heinous Palestinian terror attack claimed the lives of 4 innocent Israeli civilians. There is no justification whatsoever for the targeting and killing of innocent civilians. It must be unequivocally condemned. Any attempt of a so-called ‘balanced’ condemnation is misguided and disrespectful to the memory of the victims.”
Nides followed it up with another tweet, following the outrage in Israel https://t.co/ylc25Tjhal
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) June 20, 2023
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s permanent ambassador to the UN, added from his Twitter account, this time targeting the UN’s ‘balanced’ condemnation: “My heart aches to hear the news of 4 innocent Israelis murdered by despicable Palestinian terrorists. I send my condolences to the families of the victims. The @UN’s empty condemnations mean nothing. The UN’s representatives make immoral and false comparisons between a democracy neutralizing terrorists posing imminent threats and vicious terrorists targeting innocent civilians. Calling it a ‘cycle of violence’ only gives a green light for the terrorists to continue."
“Any attempt of a so-called ‘balanced’ condemnation is misguided and disrespectful to the memory of the victims,” Israel’s US envoy Michael Herzog declared, alluding to his American counterpart, Tom Nides. By @andrewjbernie https://t.co/8lJa8yrMrc
— Algemeiner (@Algemeiner) June 20, 2023
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Palestinian terrorist organizations after the attack and said: "We have already proven in the last few months that we will deal with all the murderers, without exception. Everyone who harmed us is either in his grave or in prison. The same will be the case here. I want to tell all those who seek our souls: all options are open. We will continue to fight terrorism with all our strength and we will defeat it."
