Hyderabad: To explain its decision to designate six Palestinian non-governmental organizations as ‘terrorists,’ Israeli foreign minister said that they will send an envoy to the United States of America. This comes after rights groups and United Nations experts increasingly condemned the move and called it a major escalation in Israel’s crackdown on political activism in occupied Palestinian territories.
The US administration of Joe Biden on Friday, stated that it had not been notified by its close ally of the plans to single out the groups in advance. However, Israeli officials have contested that claim.
In a statement to the media on Tuesday, the Israeli foreign ministry official Joshua Zarka on Israeli Army Radio stated that the envoy would give US officials all the details and present them all the intelligence during the visit in the coming days.
Furthermore, he added that he had personally updated US officials on Israel’s intention to outlaw the groups last week, and said he believed Washington wanted a more thorough explanation of the decision.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price declined to address the disagreement over whether Washington had been given pre-notice of the designation, but said the US was generally seeking more information from Israel, reported Al Jazeera.