State Dept. backs its anti-Semitism envoy

The U.S. State Department expressed its “complete support” for its anti-Semitism envoy and encouraged “broad dialogue” toward Israeli-Palestinian peace.

A statement Monday from the State Department said it would not add comment to a controversy that erupted in the last weeks of December when Hannah Rosenthal criticized Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador, for snubbing J Street.

However, the statement went on, “Special Envoy Rosenthal has the complete support of the department. As a matter of longstanding policy the United States has supported a peaceful solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. To that end the U.S. government encourages broad dialogue among responsible partners for peace.”

In an interview last week with JTA, Rosenthal, who had been an officer of the dovish pro-Israel group before her appointment, refused to retract her statement that Oren’s snub of the group was “most unfortunate,” despite criticism from the leaders of some Jewish groups and a defense of Oren by Jeffrey Feltman, the assistant secretary of state who runs Middle East policy. Rosenthal made the statement in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Separately, Rosenthal’s predecessor, Gregg Rickman, slammed her for her remarks about Oren.

“Ms. Rosenthal’s criticisms of Ambassador Oren strike a chord particularly because this is not her policy portfolio to advocate,” Rickman said in an opinion piece on The Cutting Edge News Web site. “She is supposed to fight anti-Semitism, not defend J-Street, an organization on whose Advisory Board she formally sat before her appointment to the State Department.”