State Department Condemns Murder of Israeli Diplomat in Paris

The State Department strongly condemned today the murder of an Israeli diplomat in Paris over the weekend. But it indicated that it did not consider the assassination of Yaacov Bar-Simantov to be a violation of the cease-fire across the Israel-Lebanese border as Israel has implied.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the cowardly terrorist act of murder of the Israeli diplomat in Paris,” Department spokesman Dean Fischer said. He added, “We do not have any information on the group claiming responsibility.” An organization calling itself the “Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Faction” has claimed responsibility for the act.

Fischer refused to say whether the U.S. considered the assassination a violation of the cease-fire. He would only say that the U.S. position has been that the “cessation of hostilities pertains to all military activities from Lebanon into Israel and vice-versa.” He would not comment on whether the assassination would be a violation of the cease-fire if the order had originated in Lebanon.