PM attacks 'hypocritical' human rights organizations

Netanyahu spokesman: Human Rights Watch report on settlements is “anti-Israeli;” report accuses Israel of violations in the West Bank.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday night attacked the anti-Israel bias of human rights organizations.

“We must expose the hypocrisy of human rights organizations that turn a blind eye to the most repressive regimes in the world, regimes that stone women and hang gays, and instead target the only liberal democracy in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said.



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He did not specifically address a 166-page report accusing Israel of human rights violations in the West Bank, issued earlier in the day by the international group Human Rights Watch, which was entitled, “Separate and Unequal.”

It called on the United States to financially penalize Israel by deducting the funds spent on settlements from its financial assistance to Israel.

Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev, however, attacked the report, which he characterized as “anti-Israel.”

“Unfortunately, over the last few years, we have seen a series of documented cases in which a blatant anti-Israel agenda has polluted the reports of HRW,” Regev said.

Its methodology was wrong and it ignored the “fundamental facts on the ground,” Regev said. He added that, “this is unfortunately yet another one sided report.”

Jerusalem based HRW researcher Bill Van Esveld defended the report, stating that it was not anti-Israel, but rather was an attempt to constructively criticize its treatment of the Palestinians who live in Area C of the West Bank, which is under Israeli control, and in east Jerusalem.

There are “easy fixes” the Israeli government could take to address these issues, said Van Esveld.

In its report, HRW called on the US to “Avoiding offsetting the costs of Israeli expenditures on settlements by withholding US funding from the Israeli government in an amount equivalent to its expenditures on settlements and related infrastructure in the West Bank.”

The US already deducts money from its loan guarantee program to Israel, whose funds are earmarked for civilian use. Military assistance, which makes up the bulk of US funding to Israel, is not similarly penalized.

HRW also called on Congress to investigate donations to settlement activity made by American tax-exempt non-governmental organizations and charities. It also asked Congress to reexamine the tax-exempt status of such donations.

The US and Europe, it said, should also ensure that settlement-made products are not given preferential tariff treatment.

The Israeli government should “immediately suspend discriminatory policies that privilege settlers and harm Palestinians, and afford Palestinians treatment that is at least equal to that afforded to settlers,” the report stated.