Engel Attacks State Department After Mentions of Israel Cut From Trump Video

Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D) of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs sent a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on May 8 criticizing the State Department’s decision to omit mentions of Israel from a video shared by the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia.The State Department released two videos which showed President Donald Trump’s May 4 announcement of his first official foreign trip. The more widely-circulated video showed the full announcement, in which Trump says he will visit Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Vatican. However, a version of the video shared on the US Embassy in Riyadh’s YouTube channel, and tweeted by the Embassy, omitted the mention of Israel. Both the video and the tweet have been deleted.The two videos were spliced together and shared by House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats on May 8 with the caption: “Can you spot the difference?”In his letter to Tillerson, Engel wrote: “At a time when the United States should be encouraging the governments of the region – and their people -
to promote tolerance, respect, and mutual recognition this video implies that the US accepts Saudi Arabia’s public rejectionist position toward Israel." Engel said he was “appalled” by the omission, adding: "The United States has actively fought the Arab boycott and efforts by countries in the region to delegitimize the State of Israel. This video plays into a rejectionist narrative and thus has no place in any social media—or any other form of communication—associated with the United States government.”