The State Department has released its annual terrorism report, which has received mixed reviews in Israel. On the one hand, it confirms the Congressional call for a reassessment of the U.S.-PLO relationship. Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI) spokesperson Helen Freedman told Arutz-7\'s Ron Meir that the fact that the State Department named Arafat\'s Fatah and Tanzim youth militia as perpetrators of terrorist activities means \"the U.S. is one step closer to declaring these groups foreign terrorist organizations.\" Such a declaration, she said, would oblige the U.S. to sever ties with the PLO. It was also noted that the report marks the first time that mainstream elements of the PLO are cited by the State Department in its influential terrorism report.
On the other hand, Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA notes that key sentences in the report merely quote Israel\'s accusations against the PA, leaving it up to the reader to decide if the accusations are correct. Examples of this refusal to point a direct finger at the PA include the following selections:
\"Israeli authorities accused Palestinian Authority security officials of facilitating the attack... Israeli officials publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with PA counter-terrorism efforts during the crisis. The Israelis also accused PA security officials and Fatah members of facilitating and taking part in shooting and bombing attacks against Israeli targets, including the bus bombing in Tel Aviv on 28 December. The Israelis charged that the release of several prisoners during the crisis had facilitated terrorist planning by the groups and that Palestinian security officials had not been responsive to their calls for more decisive measures against the violence.\"
Arutz-7\'s Yosef Zalmanson notes that the State Department\'s annual human rights report, which was released in late February, took a similarly lukewarm tone. It ignored the role of Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority leadership in organizing violence against Israel, played down the constant Palestinian Arab attacks on Jewish holy sites, and equated between aggressive Arab violence and Israeli self-defense. An analysis of the State Department report can be seen at \"http://www.zoa.org/pressrel/20010227a.htm\".