Amnesty International on Wednesday dismissed widespread criticism and rejected accusations of antisemitism leveled at it over a report accusing Israel of practicing apartheid in the Palestinian territories and urged the United States to pressure Israel "to repeal discriminatory laws and policies."
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Monday's report saw the London-based human rights group accuse Israel of subjecting Palestinians to a "system of apartheid founded on policies of segregation, dispossession and exclusion," which it said amounted to crimes against humanity.
Amnesty said its findings were based on research and legal analysis of what it called Israeli seizure of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer of people, and denial of citizenship.
Shortly after the report was released, the Palestinian Authority called on the UN to sanction Israel and demanded that the International Criminal Court at The Hague launch an investigation into Israel's "crime against humanity and apartheid without delay."
The report prompted outrage from Israel and many of its allies, US lawmakers, and Jewish groups.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Amnesty's report was "false, biased and antisemitic," adding that it "denies the state of Israel's right to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish people."
It further added that the organization's extremist language and distortion of historical context were designed to demonize Israel and pour fuel onto the fire of antisemitism."
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said Amnesty "is just another radical organization which echoes propaganda, without seriously checking the facts," and that it "echoes the same lies shared by terrorist organizations.
"Israel isn't perfect, but we are a democracy committed to international law, open to criticism, with a free press and a strong and independent judicial system," Lapid said.
The US State Department rejected the report, saying, "The department's own reports have never used such terminology," and noting that it "rejects the view that Israel's actions constitute apartheid."
US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides called the report "absurd."
Germany also said the use of the term "apartheid" with regard to Israel was unacceptable, and damaging to the efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The criticism of Amnesty was widespread in the US as lawmakers from both sides of the aisle were quick to slam the report.
Among the Republican critics were senators Jim Risch of Oklahoma, Bill Cassidy (Louisiana), Marco Rubio (Florida), and James Lankford (Oklahoma), as well as representatives Lee Zeldin and Elise Stefanik (New York), Joe Wilson (South Carolina), Jason Smith (Missouri), Fred Upton (Michigan), David Kustoff (Tennessee), Tim Walberg (Michigan), and Representative Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida.
Democrats who slammed Amnesty's report included Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, and representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Lois Frankel (Florida), Brad Schneider (Illinois), Elaine Luria (Virginia), Kathy Manning (North Carolina), Josh Gottheimer (New Jersey), Dean Phillips (Minnesota), Brad Sherman (California), Jake Auchincloss (Massachusetts)and Representative Ritchie Torres (New York).
A statement later released by the Democratic lawmakers said they "wholly reject Amnesty International UK's report which is nothing but part of ongoing efforts to delegitimize the Jewish and democratic State of Israel.
"The 'apartheid' accusations against Israel misrepresent and diminish the actual tyranny, segregation and dehumanization perpetrated in apartheid South Africa. South Africa's institutionalized racial segregation of the past bears no equivalence to Israel's vibrant democracy where all citizens, regardless of religion or race have rights and are represented at the highest levels of government, education, healthcare, business and the courts.
"In fact, Israel currently has perhaps the most diverse governing coalition in the word, made up of parties across the political spectrum, including the United Arab List [Ra'am]. Government ministers include Jews and Muslims, religious and secular, Arabs, Ethiopians, and LGBTQ people. Israel is the only country in the Middle East where Jews and Arabs govern together," the nine lawmakers asserted.
"In a region where religious intolerance and authoritarianism is too often the norm, Israel stands out as a pluralistic exception. Israel is not perfect, nor is any nation, and Palestinians' rights must be respected. Amnesty International could work to strengthen Israel's democracy for all Israeli citizens, Jewish and Arab, while also promoting the national aspirations of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Instead, they do the exact opposite," the statement continued.
"With potential tragic consequence, Amnesty's many baseless allegations are rooted in historic prejudices and false narratives. This report will only further fuel antisemitism and intolerance by those seeking to undermine the only Jewish nation in the world, and those working to undermine future prospects for peace between Palestinians and Israelis.
"The report's bias is further revealed with its tacit endorsements of the ICC ongoing investigation of Israel, and the Palestinians' broader international efforts to isolate Israel at the UN and in other world bodies."
"Sadly, the biased report is steeped in antisemitism and is part of Amnesty's broad, decades-long campaign to criminalize and delegitimize the world's only Jewish state," concluded the nine Democrats.
Amnesty rejected the criticism, asserting that the US must exert pressure on Israeli authorities over "ongoing human rights abuses" against Palestinians.
In a statement posted on its website, Amnesty's USA chapter said, "Amnesty International is committed to researching and documenting human rights abuses wherever they occur. We have issued reports on crimes against humanity committed by authorities in countries around the world, from China to Sudan to Saudi Arabia.
"The US government is uniquely placed to meaningfully pressure Israeli authorities to repeal discriminatory laws and policies, issue reparations where appropriate, and uphold its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law.
"We encourage all members of Congress to use the full power of their office to advance human rights for all by calling for a thorough review of US security aid to Israeli forces to determine whether such aid has been used in the commission of violations, and by conditioning security aid appropriated to Israel on an end to violations of international humanitarian law and improvements in respect for human rights.
"Amnesty's research, campaigns, advocacy, and statements pertaining to Israel are focused on the actions of the Israeli government – they are not, and never will be, a condemnation of Judaism or the Jewish people. Furthermore, we condemn anyone who would cynically cite our research as justification for committing antisemitic acts of hatred and violence.
"Amnesty International condemns antisemitism in the strongest possible terms."
In the wake of the report, right-wing organizations called on Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman to nix Amnesty International's tax-exempt status in Israel, saying that as long as Amnesty calls for the boycotting Israel and even for an arms embargo on the Jewish state, its operations do not fall under the legal guidelines that allow Israelis to donate to worthy public causes in lieu of their owed taxes.
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