Last Monday, U.S. ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro criticized Israel's West Bank settlement policy, claiming separate standards for Israelis and Palestinians.
Arutz Sheva reports that in his speech at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference in Tel Aviv last Monday, Ambassador Shapiro accused Israel of selective law enforcement against Palestinians in Judea-Samaria. He claims that too much Israeli vigilantism goes unchecked on the West Bank and there is lack of thorough investigations that it begins to look like there are different standards of law enforcement for Jews and Palestinians.
The ambassador was concerned yet preplexed by Israel's strategy on the settlements. He noted that as Israel continues to expand its settlements on the West Bank, it would make it difficult to support a negotiated settlement that involves mutual recognition and separation.
According to The Times of Israel, the US ambassador's comments were met with a harsh response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, calling it "unacceptable and incorrect", especially due to the comments closely following the stabbing attacks of two Israeli women on the West Bank.
The Prime Minister's office made it clear that "Israel enforces the law for Israelis and Palestinians" and "the Palestinian Authority is the one responsible for the diplomatic freeze, and continues to incite and refuse talks."
Over at Channel News Asia a background on the stabbing and its victims sheds some lights on the US ambassador's comments and Israel's subsequent reaction.
Michal Froman, who was stabbed last Monday was 5-months pregnant. Her injuries were not considered life-threatening. She is the daughter-in-law of the late Rabbi Menahem Froman, a Jewish peace activist who was one of the few Israeli's to meet with Hamas, the group which calls for Israel's destruction.
The other victim was identified as Dafna Meir, a 38 year-old nurse and mother of six. She was at home with some of her children when attackers stabbed and killed her. The children were left unhurt and the attackers still remains at large.
Meir's funeral in Jerusalem last Monday was attended by hundreds of mourners, including Israeli politicians and Jewish settlers carrying rifles. Her husband sat in the front row with two of their children.
Meir's 17 year-old daughter recalled they were discussing nail color polish with her mother before she was brutally killed.
The Prime Minister, in response to the stabbings, has strengthened security measures and said: "Whoever tries to harm us, we will bring him to justice.
Only time will tell if peace can be found in the West Bank. Some analysts blame frustrations and slow progress for peace on the fractured Palestinian leadership and Israel's occupation of the West Bank.
