Terror watch listICE chief: Israel's inclusion on terror watch list a "mistake"
DHS officials are now saying Israel’s inclusion on a list of countries that promote, produce, or protect terrorists was a mistake; John Morton, director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said, “The addition of Israel to the list—- was based on inaccurate information provided to the OIG during the course of its audit”; a May 2011 report contained an appendix which lists “specially designated countries” that promote terrorism; the list instructed ICE agents to pay special attention to, and investigate more thoroughly, individuals from these countries arrested by ICE; ICE spokesperson suggested that Israel was included not because its government supports terrorism, but because some individual Israelis do pose a terror threat; 1.5 million of Israel’s 7.5 million citizens are Arabs
ICE admits error in classifying Israel // Source: theodoresworld.net
DHS officials are now saying Israel’s inclusion on a list of countries that were promoting, producing, or protecting terrorists was a mistake.
“The addition of Israel to the list… was based on inaccurate information provided to the OIG during the course of its audit,” said John Morton, director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “The U.S. does not and never has considered Israel to have links to terrorism, but rather they are a partner in our efforts to combat global terrorism. “The United States maintains close intelligence-sharing relationships with Israel in order to address security issues within its own borders and in our mutual pursuit of safety and security around the globe,” he added.
The remarks come in response to a May 2011 report titled “Supervision of Aliens Commensurate with Risk” contained an appendix which lists “specially designated countries” that promote terrorism. Thirty-six countries were listed in addition to Israel including Turkey, Bahrain, Morocco, and the Philippines.
Of the thirty-six countries listed, only five did not have a majority Muslim population.
At the time of the report’s release, Ice spokesperson Gillian Christensen said that countries could have been included on the list because of the backgrounds of their arrestees not the country’s government itself.
Christensen added that the list was not necessarily a reflection of a government’s policies but rather the possibility that individuals originating from that country could have terrorist ties.
