US urges Israel to protect freedom of expression after Netanyahu attacks rights groups
Oct. 18, 2016
▻http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=773618
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The United States State Department defended Israeli human rights group B’Tselem in an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Monday, saying the US was “troubled” by the recent attacks on the group by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, the Israeli government has also recently come under fire for its targeting of foreign activists, and ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression through incarcerating Palestinians — including minors — over Facebook posts.
US State Department Spokesman John Kirby told the newspaper that “the (US) administration values the information published by the two nonprofits about the situation in the West Bank,” referring to B’Tselem and Americans for Peace Now, two NGOs who spoke before the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Friday regarding illegal Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territory.