Israel excluded from U.S. terror forum

WASHINGTON, July 16 (UPI) -- Rabbi Marvin Hier, the founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, accused a U.S.-sponsored counterterrorism forum of deliberately excluding Israel.

Hier accused the United States of deliberately excluding Israel from the the Global Counterterrorism Forum that convened in Spain July 9, The Jerusalem Post said Monday. At the forum entitled "Victims of Terrorism," U.S. Undersecretary of State Maria Otero also made no mention of Israel as a country that has suffered from terror, the newspaper said.

In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Hier said he was disappointed the United States failed to honor "assurances that a way would be found to involve Israel. But after reading the 'Victims of Terrorism' comments from the undersecretary of civilian security democracy and human rights, I'm prepared to believe that Israel is being left out intentionally."

Israel also was excluded from the first formal meeting of the Global Counterterrorism Forum in June in Istanbul, the paper said. At the time Israel's absence was chalked up to Turkish opposition, the paper said.