US Rejects Apartheid Allegations

The United States rejects the view that Israel’s actions towards the Palestinians constitute apartheid, the State Department said on Tuesday after Amnesty International accused Israeli authorities of enforcing such policies.

“We reject the view that Israel’s actions constitute apartheid. The department’s own reports have never used such terminology,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters.

Price added: “I think that it is important, as the world’s only Jewish state, that the Jewish people must not be denied their right to self-determination, and we must ensure there isn’t a double standard being applied.”

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides dismissed the Amnesty report, writing in a tweet, “Come on, this is absurd,” and adding like Price, “That is not language that we have used and will not use.”