U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman publicly ripped the “liberal media” in an opinion piece for Fox News on Sunday, accusing reporters of siding with Hamas over President Trump.
Friedman accused the media of embracing Hamas’s cause with its coverage of deadly protests in which more than 50 Palestinians were killed — all as the U.S. opened a new embassy in Jerusalem to mark the moving of its diplomatic post from Tel Aviv.
{mosads}”The opening ceremony was a beautiful and uplifting event attended by hundreds and watched by millions,” Friedman wrote. “The apparent success of the embassy’s opening ceremony enraged the liberal media. Could this be yet another diplomatic triumph by President Trump? The prospect was unbearable.
“Hamas to the rescue. These thugs, acknowledged nearly universally as a terrorist organization, had been rioting in Gaza over the past six weeks for purported reasons not connected to the embassy move. They were more than willing to provide the media with a dark side to an otherwise uplifting story.”
Dozens of Palestinians were killed as they sought to forcibly cross Israel’s border with Gaza.
Friedman defended the actions of the Israeli military, saying that no nation would allow foreigners to “storm its border.”
He also said the majority of those killed were members of Hamas, an internationally recognized terror group that is also a political party in power in Gaza.
“Regrettably, Hamas convinced impressionable young adults that the border had been breached and directed them to run all the way to Jerusalem and murder their enemies,” he wrote.
“Some 60 Gazans, the overwhelming majority of whom were known Hamas terrorists, lost their lives because Hamas turned them into a collective suicide bomb. They were neither heroes nor the peaceful protesters they were advertised to be.”
The White House has also blamed Hamas for the violence in Gaza.
“The responsibility for these tragic deaths rests squarely with Hamas. Hamas is intentionally and cynically provoking this response,” White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said last week.
In response to the violence last week, the United Nations Security Council called for an “independent and transparent investigation.” The Telegraph reported that the group’s statement called for member nations to not establish diplomatic missions in Jerusalem. The U.S. responded by blocking the resolution.