U.S. ‘Shocked’ by Israeli Plan to Expel Palestinians

The State Department said today that it was “shocked” by Israel’s decision to expel 25 Palestinian activists, and a senior diplomat said that relations between the two countries might be damaged if the expulsions continue.

The warning was conveyed Monday by Deputy Secretary of State John Whitehead to Israel’s charge d’affaires, Oded Eran, said an Israeli source that declined to be identified.

Israeli Embassy spokesman Yossi Gal confirmed that the meeting took place but refused to discuss its contents.

Eran, who is in charge of the embassy while Ambassador Moshe Arad is on vacation, was summoned to the State Department after Israel announced that it would expel 25 Palestinians accused of fueling the violence that has claimed more than 250 Palestinian lives in the last eight months.

Whitehead “was emphatic about the U.S. position that it objects to these expulsions,” the source said.

“He said relations could be damaged if this goes on.”

“We are shocked by the government of Israel’s decision to expel an additional 25 Palestinians,” said State Department spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley.

She said that if Israel carries out the deportation orders, it will bring to 60 the number of Palestinians expelled this year from the Israeli-occupied territories. The expulsions can be appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court, although all the orders have been upheld this year.

The growing number of expulsions appears to indicate that deportations “are the norm rather than the exception,” Oakley said.

Israel contends that it uses expulsions only as a last resort to ensure that order is maintained in the territories.