The US State Department sought to downplay claims on Wednesday that it had withdrawn the nomination of a controversial professor for a human rights post largely over his record of inflammatory anti-Israel social media comments, which surfaced after his name was put forward.
Days after his nomination, the Biden administration withdrew James Cavallaro’s name for a position at the Organization of American States (OAS), seemingly after it was revealed by the Algemeiner that the academic had described Israel as an “apartheid state” and accused a House Democratic leader of being “Bought. Purchased. Controlled” by AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups.
The move led to charges that the State Department had either not properly vetted the nominee’s positions on Israel or had not seen a problem with his history of anti-Israel activism.
Cavallaro had been picked by the Administration to become an independent member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an organ of the Organization of American States mandated with protecting and promoting human rights in the Americas, the Associated Press reported, with the White House describing him as a “leading scholar
However, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Wednesday that Cavallaro’s nomination was not terminated based on his positions on Israel.
“His social media commentary covered many issues, not just Israel,” Price said. “I know that’s been the focus of much of the commentary, but it went well beyond that. Some of his commentary, as I alluded to yesterday, was deeply inappropriate. Once that information came to light, we lost confidence in this individual and his ability to serve as a successful nominee.”
But on Tuesday, a day prior to Price’s statement, Cavallaro insisted in a Twitter post that his nomination was ended “because of [his] view that the conditions in Israel/Palestine meet the definition of apartheid.”