Palestinians slam outgoing Trump envoy as apologist for ‘extremist’ Netanayhu govt

Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi says Trump’s outgoing Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt was an apologist for the “extreme” policies of the Netanyahu government, and was more suited to be a spokesman for Israel than a White House adviser.

“Jason Greenblatt was viewed by everybody as an apologist for Israel, a defender of the most extreme, hard-line policies of this government in Israel and somebody who holds its ideologically right-wing views,” PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi tells the Times of Israel.

PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi speaks at a press conference in Ramallah on February 24, 2015. (WAFA/File)

“He was always on a crusade to malign the Palestinians and justify anything the Israelis do,” she says.

“He was someone more suited to be a spokesman for Israel. At the same time, I don’t think it was personal,” Ashrawi says. “This administration certainly is not one that has been friendly to the Palestinians and all the people it has appointed have the clear prerequisite of being pro-Israel and holding an ideological commitment to Zionism and extreme Israeli hard-line policies.”