US Ambassador Friedman feuds with left-wing Israeli paper over Palestinian terror

A volley of tweets between the US Ambassador to Israel and the publisher of an Israeli daily exposed a growing rift between those who support Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and their critics.

By: World Israel News Staff

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman took to task the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Friday morning based on a highly critical opinion article related to a recent terror attack.

Specifically, Haaretz, a left-wing daily published in English and Hebrew, ran a piece by its correspondent Gideon Levy about recent Palestinian terror attacks on Israeli civilians in which the writer called Har Bracha (“mount of blessing”), the community of victim Itamar Ben Gal, a “mountain of curses” and accused the “occupation-friendly ambassador” of “deception.”

Friedman had tweeted in response to the attack earlier in the week, lamenting that an ambulance he donated to Har Bracha had to be used to respond to terror attacks, instead of being used to deliver babies.

In response to Levy’s criticism in Haaretz, Friedman tweeted on Friday, “What has become of @Haaretz? Four young children are sitting shiva [mourning] for their murdered father and this publication calls their community a ‘mountain of curses.’ Have they no decency?”

Haaretz Publisher Amos Schoken tweeted back, “Mr. Ambassador, Gideon Levy is right. As long as the policy of Israel that your Government and yourself support is obstructing peace process, practical annexation of the territories, perpetuating apartheid, fighting terror but willing to pay its price, there will be more Shivas [mourning],” he wrote.

The attack to which this exchange refers occurred on Monday and involved an Israeli-Arab terrorist stabbing to death 29-year-old Rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal, a father of four on the way to a family celebration. The tragedy occurred just weeks after Palestinian terrorists murdered Rabbi Raziel Shevach, who left behind a wife and six children.