Netanyahu Criticizes Senators Opposing Human Rights Violations Against Palestinians

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted sharply to a letter from eleven American senators calling for the suspension of U.S. aid to Israel until there is an investigation into "human rights violations against Palestinians." According to Israeli media, Senator Patrick Leahy and other signatories wrote the letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The letter emphasizes that human rights violations against Palestinians, by both Israel and Egypt, should be investigated. Senator Leahy, a Democrat, initiated the letter, which was signed by ten other senators. Leahy is from Vermont, the state where Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders operates; both Leahy and Sanders have been longstanding critics of right-wing Israeli governments. The U.S. provides billions of dollars in annual aid to Israel and has recently expressed readiness to increase this aid to five billion dollars instead of three billion one hundred million dollars. Congress is also set to review a bill to increase military aid to Egypt soon. Although Senator Leahy and his colleagues wrote the letter forty days ago, Netanyahu wrote a harsh letter to the signatories after it became public, suggesting that "instead of writing letters against Israel, it would have been better to write to Palestinian leaders who encourage street violence." Netanyahu asked them, "Why are you not concerned about the human rights of the Israeli people?" The Israeli Prime Minister also described the country's soldiers and security forces as "believing in the highest human standards." According to the Jerusalem Post, this is one of the few instances where Netanyahu has publicly clashed with American senators. The letter from the American senators became public after an Israeli soldier shot and killed a wounded Palestinian attacker in Hebron. Last Thursday, a Palestinian attacked an Israeli soldier with a knife, injuring her, but other soldiers at the scene shot and "neutralized" the attacker. The wounded Palestinian lay on the ground for six minutes, and Israeli military medics apparently did not attend to him, contrary to regulations. After six minutes, during which dozens of other soldiers and Israeli commanders were present, a soldier from the medical rescue team arrived and shot the Palestinian. The Israeli army has arrested the soldier responsible for the shooting. The soldier claimed he was concerned the attacker had a suicide belt and might detonate it. However, the Israeli Defense Minister acknowledged that soldiers present at the scene were told the attacker had been neutralized and did not have an explosive belt. The arrest of this soldier has caused a major uproar in Israel, with right-wing parties demanding his release. Right-wing Israelis have also heavily criticized the Defense Minister and the Chief of Staff for insisting that due process should be followed. In the past six months, over two hundred Palestinians, mostly during street attacks with cold weapons against Israelis, have been killed. These attacks have resulted in the deaths of 29 Israelis. Palestinian leaders say the lack of hope among several generations of Palestinians and the suffering from decades of discrimination and occupation have driven young Palestinians to commit recent attacks.