Diplomats say Israel is more interested in creating 'public diplomacy buzz'

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Excerpt:

Some of Israel’s key allies have complained to the Foreign Ministry about not receiving any intelligence or evidence about the World Vision manager in Gaza whom Israel suspects of transferring millions of dollars of humanitarian aid to Hamas.

Western diplomats told Haaretz that Israel’s behavior in the affair is creating the impression that the government is interested in creating a “public diplomacy buzz,” rather than any real attempt to resolve the matter.

“The Israelis’ priorities in this affair are very strange,” said one Western diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous, citing the diplomatic sensitivity of the story. “Israel’s conduct is very disappointing.”

On August 4, the Shin Bet security service announced the arrest of Mohammad El Halabi, World Vision’s Gaza zonal manager. The Shin Bet claimed that, for six years, Halabi served as a Hamas agent inside the Christian aid organization. During this time, it alleged, he diverted millions of dollars of donations from Western governments to Hamas, which the Islamist group then used for building tunnels and manufacturing weaponry in Gaza.

Western diplomats noted that as of Thursday, neither the ministry in Jerusalem nor any other official Israeli body has provided additional information or evidence concerning the matter to any of the Western countries involved, directly or indirectly, in transferring donations to World Vision. ...