U.S. Asks Some Americans to Go
WASHINGTON — The State Department on Tuesday announced voluntary evacuation for some diplomats’ dependents in Israel, a measure of its fears for their safety but far from a more severe option of ordering its staff and their families to leave.
“American Consulate General dependents in Jerusalem have been authorized to depart voluntarily as a result of the increase in terrorist attacks and escalation in violence there,” the department said.
The move left the embassy in Tel Aviv unaffected and had no impact on the work of U.S. envoy Anthony C. Zinni and top diplomats trying to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire.
The more severe “ordered departure” was applied in March in Pakistan after two Americans were killed by a grenade in a church.
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