US-Israel ties at core of Middle East turmoil

The US-Israeli relationship is at the core of the conflicts in the Middle East, says an American author and analyst.

“The relationship between Israel and the United States is really one of the causes of the rise of all the turmoil in the Middle East,” Richard Forer told Press TV on Monday.

“Arab countries see that America speaks about values such as freedom and democracy and it supports some of the worst offenders of freedom and democracy,” he explained.

“When it comes to the treatment of the Palestinian people, Israel is a real human rights abuser and offender,” he added.

A large number of Orthodox Jewish and pro-Palestinian activists staged a demonstration in front of the White House on Sunday against the Israeli regime.

The protesters called for the immediate termination of the Israeli entity and the return of the occupied territories to Palestinians.

Activists also gathered outside a building where the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a major pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington, was being held on Monday evening. The attendees had to stay in the building due to the protest outside.

The demonstrators voiced their anger at the US government’s financial and military support for Israel.

All remaining US presidential candidates, except for Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, addressed the conference, offering unequivocal support for Israel.

“Usually 75 percent of members of the Congress attend the convention and basically bow down to AIPAC,” Forer said.

“They (Israel lobby) are making it impossible for there to be peace between Israel and the Palestinians and they are making it possible for Israel to continue its ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and to continue depriving Palestinians of the most basic civil rights,” he noted.

“Without their support for Israel, Israel’s bigotry could not achieve the gains that it has at the expense of the Palestinian people,” he said.