US State Department’s Latest Human Rights Report on Israel Sparks Outcry Over Drastic Omissions

The United States State Department has released its annual report on human rights practices, drawing sharp criticism for a significantly condensed and allegedly whitewashed section on Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. The new report, published recently, is a mere nine pages long concerning Israel, a drastic 91 percent reduction from the 103-page analysis provided last year.

Experts and former State Department officials are decrying the report as a politically motivated document designed to downplay abuses by U.S. allies. Josh Paul, who resigned from the State Department in 2023, stated the report on Israel/Palestine appeared to be written by someone completely blindfolded and censored. He highlighted the omission of crucial references, including Israel’s ongoing genocide case at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Annelle Sheline, a former foreign affairs officer at the State Department who resigned in March 2024, pointed out the striking contrast with last year’s report, which documented numerous Israeli human rights violations. This year’s version, despite a period characterized by widespread Palestinian casualties, focuses almost exclusively on alleged abuses by Hamas and Hizballah, barely acknowledging Israeli actions.

Concerns also extend to the report’s treatment of press freedom and torture. The section on journalists’ killings attributes deaths to the ‘Israel-Hamas conflict’ rather than directly to Israel, and includes Israeli claims about journalists’ ties to terror groups. Furthermore, while detailing the torture of Israeli hostages by Hamas, the report offers scant information on the torture of Palestinian prisoners by Israel, merely noting the use of ‘exceptional measures’ without details on frequency or methods.

Critics argue that the severely abridged and biased nature of this year’s reports, particularly on Israel, renders them functionally useless for Congress and the public, transforming what should be a comprehensive human rights assessment into a pro-Israel document. This raises significant questions about the U.S. government’s commitment to holding its partners accountable for human rights abuses.

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