US, Israeli officials hold ‘constructive discussion’ on NGO terror designation

State Dept. spokesperson says Washington is examining Israeli evidence, hasn’t formed any conclusions yet.

By JNS.org

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the Biden administration had a “constructive discussion” with an Israeli delegation that visited last week to present information behind the decision to blacklist six Palestinian NGOs.

“The delegation provided a verbal briefing on information that they had on certain groups. They also provided written materials. We’ve provided those written materials to our counterparts in the administration,” Price said in a briefing to reporters on Monday.

However, he added that the administration has not come to any conclusion on the materials presented, saying officials will “take a very close look” at the information and will “cross-reference that information with what we may have in our own holdings, and from that, we’ll form an informed judgment.”

An Israeli delegation traveled to Washington last week to brief the Biden administration on links between the six Palestinian NGOs and terrorism. This comes as several European countries have also expressed “serious concern” about the designation.

Following a closed U.N. Security Council meeting on the issue, Estonia, France, Ireland, Norway and Albania released a statement saying that the designation has “far-reaching consequences for the organizations in political, legal and financial terms.”

The United States also questioned the announcement on Oct. 22 by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz that Addameer, al-Haq, Defense for Children Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Bisan Center for Research and Development and the Union of Palestinian Women Committees would be listed as terrorist organizations for their close ties with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

The United States designated the PFLP as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.