The US administration disagrees with PM Netanyahu’s statement that Hamas poses as deep a threat to the West as does Islamic State.
Speaking to journalists following Netanyahu’s speech Monday at the United Nations, in which he said that Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL or IS) and Hamas are “branches of the same poisonous tree.” State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki acknowledged that both are terrorist organizations, but added:
“We don’t believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu or anyone else from Israel is suggesting that the United States launch a military campaign against Hamas, so we certainly – they are both designated terrorist organizations under the United States designations, but certainly we see differences – in terms of the threat and otherwise.”
“Obviously, we’ve designated both as terrorist organizations, but ISIL poses a different threat to Western interests and to the United States. And that’s just a fact,” she asserted.
Open Disagreement with Israel on UN Human Rights Council
Regarding Netanyahu’s characterization of the UN Human Rights Council as a Terrorists’ Human Rights Council,” Psaki disagreed with that statement as well.
“We have obviously voiced concerns when we have them about actions that are taken, but no, we would certainly not agree with that characterization,” she stated.
“We don’t see the need for heated rhetoric. But obviously there are times when we certainly agree, and we’ve expressed concerns in the past as well about the same organization and how they operate.”
Most recently, the Israeli leader slammed the UNHRC as a “kangaroo court” for its investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes during Operation Protective Edge.
Author: United with Israel Staff