Three powerful US congressmen have sharply criticized Saudi Arabia following a report in Monday's Jerusalem Post that the desert kingdom is breaking its pledge to drop the Arab League boycott of Israel.
In November 2005, Saudi leaders promised Washington they would abandon the embargo on Israel after the Bush administration conditioned admission to the World Trade Organization on the move. A month later, Saudi Arabia was granted WTO membership. The WTO, which promotes free trade, prohibits member states from engaging in discriminatory practices such as boycotts or embargoes.
| Got played again by the Saoodis, did we? |
Nonetheless, as first revealed in the Post, Saudi customs officials continue to block entry of goods manufactured in Israel and of items containing Israeli components. "Saudi Arabia's boycott of Israel never should have existed in the first place and they should end it immediately," Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, ranking Republican on the Middle East Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives' Committee on Foreign Relations, told the Post. "It is a relic of wars waged decades ago and there is simply no moral or strategic reason there should be a boycott at all." |