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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| US Consulate Car Tried To Run Over Israeli Guard |
| 2009-12-25 |
| A dispute is rumbling between Israel and the US Consulate in Jerusalem after a US diplomatic car allegedly tried running over a Defense Ministry security guard recently at an IDF checkpoint in the West Bank. The car had been stopped after the occupants refused to present identification papers. Israel is also furious that one of the consulate cars was found to have transported a Palestinian without permits between Jerusalem and the West Bank. According to a detailed official Israel Police description of the incident obtained exclusively by The Jerusalem Post, the drivers refused to identify themselves or open a window or door. The drivers, according to the report, purposely blocked the crossing, tried running over one of the Israeli security guards stationed there and made indecent gestures at female guards. The entire incident was documented by cameras at the crossing. Following the incident, the head of the police's Security Department, Lt.-Cmdr. Meir Ben-Yishai, convened a meeting on November 18 at police headquarters in Jerusalem with the regional security officer at the consulate, Tim Laas. Also present were officials from the Defense Ministry and the Foreign Ministry, and the regional security officer at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, Dan Power. According to a protocol of the meeting, obtained by the Post, Ben-Yishai described additional violations by consulate workers, and referred to at least one case in which a female Palestinian without appropriate documentation was found in a diplomatic car. Defense officials told the Post that there had been other similar cases in the past. "We view this as an attempt to illegally transfer someone," Ben-Yishai said, according to the official police protocol. Ben-Yishai also said the drivers of the cars, from east Jerusalem, hid their Israeli identity cards and put stickers over their names on their consulate-issued identity cards, since, as they claimed, "they are in a diplomatic vehicle and cannot be touched." While Power apologized for the incident and tried smoothing things over, Laas angered Ben-Yishai, according to the protocol, when he said it was unacceptable for "simple guards" to inspect senior diplomats. Laas said the communication needed to be between the guard and the driver, since "we can't know who the guard is." This was understood by those present as indicating his lack of trust in Israeli guards. |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |