Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan slammed Democratic lawmaker Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez last week for her criticism of Israeli action in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, accusing her of spreading misinformation.
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Cortez's criticism stemmed from the eviction of families from contested homes in east Jerusalem after a court ruled that they had dwelled there illegally. Cortez's first tweet read: "Civil rights violations continue to be regularly inflicted on Palestinians living in Occupied Territory. Last week, Israeli troops stopped the car of an 80-year-old Palestinian-American, beat him, and left him to die. @StateDept must investigate this violence."
Her second tweet focused on how Israel's actions supposedly led to a regional conflagration in May "Israel destroyed two homes belonging to the Salhiya family in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where attempted evictions last year sparked a deadly war. This cruel act left 15 people homeless. This is unacceptable and must be stopped."
In response, Erdan quoted her tweet and rebutted the Democratic congresswoman's accusations: "Sadly, @AOC spreads lies against Israel & distorts the truth. Her obsession w/ Israel is clear: she rarely tweets about other conflicts around the world, only Israel. Why doesn't she fight antisemitic attacks against Jews rather than spread hate against Jews?"
He went on to explain where she got things wrong: "Look how you spread your lies: last year, the terror organization Hamas (also a terror organization in the US) fired missiles on Jerusalem & civilians. You justify the attacks on Jerusalem w/ evictions still under legal procedure in Israel's Supreme Court".
Ocasio-Cortez is considered to be a rising star in Democratic politics and has so far refused to publicly engage Israeli officials and has largely avoided reaching out to the Jewish community. She recently abstained in a House vote on funding for Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system and later said she regretted not voting against it.
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