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U.S. Ambassador to Israel Locked In Twitter War With Liberal Daily Haaretz

U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman has a bone to pick with the country’s liberal daily Haaretz.

This week, the newspaper published an op-ed by columnist Gideon Levy in which he takes issue with Friedman who donated an ambulance to the Jewish settlement of Har Bracha. The column was published days after rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal, a father of four from Har Bracha, was murdered week by a Palestinian terrorist.

“With Friedman’s ambulance or without it, Har Bracha (literally, ‘Mountain of Blessing’) is a mountain of curses,” wrote Levy.

On Friday, Ambassador Friedman took to Twitter to respond.

Haaretz publisher Amos Shocken responded: “Mr. Ambassador Gideon Levy is right. As long as the policy of Israel that your Government and yourself support is obstructing peace process, practical annexation of the territories, perpetuating apartheid, fighting terror but willing to pay its price, there will be more Shivas.”

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

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