The US Consulate in Jerusalem is training Jerusalem Arabs as armed security guards to escort American diplomats in Judea and Samaria, according to reports in Yediot Achronot and Arutz-7.
The report states that 7 Israeli guards were recently fired and 3 more Israeli guards quit in protest, following the appointment of the Consulate’s new security officer, Dan Cronin, and his new policies.
Cronin is reportedly hiring 35 Arab guards and sending them for training in Jericho and the US.
According to some of the former Israeli guards, a number of the Arab guards already hired have previously been arrested for stone throwing attacks and have relatives with terror records.
The former guards also describe a secret arsenal in the US Consulate, consisting of machine guns, rifles and shotguns — all without permission or coordination with Israel.
On January 4, JewishPress.com reported on an incident where US Consulate security guards allegedly pulled out a gun and an M-16, pointing their weapons at Israelis near the community of Adei Ad. The US denied they pulled out any weapons on Israeli citizens during their surveillance mission.
There has been an inordinate amount of coordination between anti-Israel activist groups and US Consulate officials as of late.
In 2010, it was revealed that the US Consulate in Jerusalem had hired the son of Hamas leader to manage their motor pool. The position gave him access to US Consulate vehicles and visiting VIPs. The employee’s brother was an advisor to a senior Hamas official in Jerusalem.
The former US Consulate employee had been arrested a number of times by Israel, previous to his being hired by the US Consulate in 2003, and was part of an Israeli 2007 investigation into Hamas activities in Jerusalem. The consulate fired him from his sensitive position in 2006 when it couldn’t ignore his Hamas connections.