Ken Berwitz
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro told Army Radio onMonday that he regretted the timing of remarks hemade last week that were critical of Israeli policies in Judea and Samaria.
Shapiro made the controversial remarks at the Institute forNational Security Studies conference in Tel Aviv last Monday. Earlier the sameday, Israeli terror victim Dafna Meir had been laid to rest in Jerusalem afterbeing stabbed todeath by a Palestinian assailant in Otniel the previous day and another Israeliwoman, Michal Froman, was wounded in a stabbing in Tekoa.
In his speech, Shapiro said, “Too many attacks onPalestinians lack a vigorous investigation or response by Israeli authorities;too much vigilantism goes unchecked; and at times there seem to be twostandards of adherence to the rule of law: one for Israelis and another forPalestinians.”
Shapiro\’s remarks drew a sharp response from Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu, who said, “The ambassador\’s comments, on a day when amother of six is being buried and a pregnant woman is stabbed, are unacceptableand untrue.”
In Monday\’s Army Radio interview, Shapiro said, “Iunderstand the timing [of the comments] was not the best. I started with acondemnation of the attacks in Otniel and Tekoa. There were just one or twolines that caused disagreement, but if this, God forbid, hurt the Meir familyor anyone else mourning Dafna\’s death, may her memory be a blessing, then ofcourse I regret it.
