US rejects Amnesty's damning report on 'Israel's apartheid against Palestinians'

The United States has rejected a report by Amnesty International which accused Israel of committing 'crimes of apartheid' in relation to its treatment of Palestinians.

In a 280-page report entitled 'Israel's Apartheid Against Palestinians', the rights watchdog slammed Israel for enforcing a system of apartheid on Palestinians and has called on the UK as well as other nations to reassess their relationship with Israel.

It said that Israel used unlawful killings, confiscation of land and property, forced transfer, restrictions on movement, and denial of nationality and citizenship in order to achieve this.

"I reject the view that Israel's actions constitute apartheid. The department's own reports have never used such terminology," US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a press conference.

"I think that it is important, as the world's only Jewish state, that the Jewish people must not be denied their right to self-determination, and we must ensure there isn't a double standard being applied."

US ambassador to Israel Tom Nides branded the breakthrough report as "absurd".

"Come on, this is absurd. That is not language that we have used and will not use", he tweeted.

The Israeli government pre-emptively labelled the document "anti-Semitic" on Monday ahead of its release.

Israeli officials claim they were "not informed" or approached by Amnesty, according to The Times. 

Amnesty made said in its report that it had contacted the Israeli foreign minister last year detailing the accusations. 

The human rights group’s report was based on research and analysis carried out by the organisation between July 2017 to November 2021.

This involved "extensively" analysing Israeli legislation and policy as well as speaking to Palestinians, Israelis and a number of NGOs.