Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:

Under binding international law, ambassadors and other persons receiving diplomatic immunity in a foreign country are required “to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving state” and “not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State.” (Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Affairs, Article 41.) Unfortunately, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Thomas Nides, has ramped up his inappropriate, persistent and “aggressive” (his own word) violations of these non-interference and legal respect requirements. This is endangering Israeli security and runs roughshod over Israeli sovereignty.

Nides’ interference – including Nides’ recent calls for and efforts to achieve a Palestinian Arab terror state on Israel’s lawful land, and Nides’ pressures to surrender sovereign control to the PA – also violate the binding international law and U.S. treaty law that designates all of Israel, including Jerusalem and Judea/Samaria, for the Jewish homeland. The 1922 Mandate provided that no territory designated for the Jewish homeland “shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the control of, the Government of any foreign Power.” The UN Charter (a U.S. treaty) continued the Jewish people’s rights under the Mandate after the Mandate’s expiration, and nothing has ever abrogated this. Thus, the U.S. cannot lawfully engage in actions to cede Israel’s land to a Palestinian Arab state. (See ZOA Resource: “Israel has the Legal Right to the Land Of Israel, Including Jerusalem, Judea/Samaria & The Golan, Under Binding International Law.”)

Nides’ latest violations and interference, expressed during his briefing to reporters in Jerusalem on September 7, 2022; and during his speech at the World Summit on Counter-Terrorism of The International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) at Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel on September 11, 2022; and in a series of recent tweets, include:

——–(1) calling for a Palestinian Arab terror state on Israel’s lawful land, and falsely claiming that such a state is necessary for “democracy” and that the status quo can’t continue – when in fact, such a state would be Israel’s greatest existential threat, would subject all of Israel to rocket attacks, and is opposed by the majority of democratic Israel’s public;

——–(2) demanding that Israel surrender sovereign control over who can enter Israeli territory to the Palestinian Authority (PA) terror regime and to terror-infested PA universities;

——–(3) demanding more “freedom of movement” for Palestinian Arabs, including through Jordanian crossings – thereby enabling more terrorists to enter Israel;

——–(4) boasting about Biden’s decision to restore $500 million per year in economic aid to the PA or that benefits the PA – thereby enabling the PA to continue its $400 million of “pay to slay” payments rewarding terrorists for murdering Jews;

——–(5) demanding an end to Jews building in the lawful Jewish homelands of Judea/Samaria – an antisemitic, discriminatory demand;

——–(6) falsely accusing Jews living in Judea/Samaria of “settler violence”; and

——–(7) complaining that the Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab nations have not benefited Palestinian Arabs – thereby wrongly implying that Israel has no right to enter into international peace treaties unless the PA “gets something” from the deal.

——–(8) In addition, according to Major General (res.) Gershon Hacohen, the U.S. is collaborating with the Palestinian Authority and Europeans who are building illegal structures, farms and quarries in Area C, to surround and choke off Jewish communities and effect a de facto takeover of “Area C.”  Area C is the strategic areas of Judea/Samaria where 500,000 Jews live, which is legally under sole Israeli administration. Israeli sovereignty and control of Area C is essential to the security of the entire country. But now, due to rampant illegal Palestinian Arab building, and U.S. pressure to allow this illegal Arab building, Israeli Jewish residents, including Jewish schoolchildren in Area C, have to travel through a daily gauntlet of Arab terrorists throwing deadly rocks and shooting at Jewish school buses and commuter cars.

Nides’ hostility to Israel is clear from his following series of troubling tweets on September 4, 2022, dictating what security protocols Israel should follow; inappropriately complaining that Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) has a role as to who can enter Israeli territories; and insisting that the Palestinian Authority (PA) be given major roles in these Israeli security decisions:

“Today COGAT published its revised guidelines. Since February, @usembassyjlm, @USPalAffairs, & I have aggressively engaged with the Israeli Government on these draft rules – and we’ll continue to do so in the 45-day lead up to implementation & during the 2-year pilot period. 1/4″

“I continue to have concerns with the published protocols, particularly regarding COGAT’s role in determining whether individuals invited by Palestinian academic institutions are qualified to enter the West Bank, and the potential negative impact on family unity. 2/4”

It is important to ensure all of these regulations are developed in coordination with key stakeholders, including the Palestinian Authority. 3/4”

“I fully expect the Government of Israel to make necessary adjustments during the pilot period to ensure transparency as well as the fair and equal treatment of all U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals traveling to the West Bank. 4/4”

Nides has committed similar wrongheaded and dangerous outrages that interfere with Israeli sovereignty and security throughout his tenure as U.S. Ambassador to Israel. For instance, in March 2022, during his webinar with the hostile-to-Israel BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) group “Peace Now,” Nides called Israel and Jews who legally build homes in Jerusalem and Judea/Samaria, “stupid” and “infuriating” while ignoring Palestinian’s illegal building of homes.

During his webinar with “Peace Now,” Nides also bragged that his constant pressure on Israel to stop Jews from building homes succeeded in obtaining the cancelation of a critical Jewish housing project in the E-1 corridor between Jerusalem and Jerusalem suburb Ma’aleh Adumim.

In addition to violating the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Affairs, Nides’ interference with Jews building homes in the Jewish homeland is discriminatory, antisemitic, endangers Jewish lives, and violates the binding international law and treaties to which the U.S. is a party that guarantee Jerusalem and Judea/Samaria to the Jewish people for the Jewish homeland.

ZOA urges Nides to treat Israel as a strong ally to America and the Palestinian Authority as the terrorist dictatorship it is.