State Department altered Israel travel warning after complaint
It’s extremely unusual for the State Department to change a travel warning to American citizens based on a complaint from the destination country, but that’s exactly what happened this week after the Israeli government protested, State Department officials admitted Wednesday. On August 5, State issued a travel warning to all American citizens in a response ...
It’s extremely unusual for the State Department to change a travel warning to American citizens based on a complaint from the destination country, but that’s exactly what happened this week after the Israeli government protested, State Department officials admitted Wednesday.
On August 5, State issued a travel warning to all American citizens in a response to rocket attacks that hit both Israel and Jordan. The warning included the line, "rockets have been fired recently into the Eilat and Aqaba areas. U.S. citizens in Eilat and southern Israel are advised to ascertain the location of the nearest bomb shelter." No similar warning was issued for Jordan.
The Israeli tourism ministry protested privately and publicly, saying, "This advisory gives a prize to terror and undermines regional stability and the sense of security that Israel gives to everyone who enters the country…. Differentiating Israel from its neighbor that actually suffered loss of life is improper and lacks balance."
On August 10, State issued the new travel warning, which replaces the August 5 notice and doesn’t mention Eilat at all, only saying, "U.S. citizens in the area should be aware of the risks and should follow the advice of the Government of Israel’s office of Homefront Command."
After spokesman P.J. Crowley defended the change Tuesday, one sarcastic State Department reporter asked Crowley on Wednesday, "Can any country complain about the travel advice that you give and have it changed? Or is that just a privilege that’s accorded to Israel?"
Crowley responded that the change was made in part because there was a disparity between the Israeli travel warning and the lack of a similar warning for Jordan. He also argued that disseminating the information through what’s called a "warden message," which only goes out to U.S. government personnel, was sufficient.
"We decided, upon further review … that the warden message was the appropriate way, because we were talking about one specific incident, to communicate this threat information. And that’s why we withdrew the language from the Israeli travel warning," he said.
The State Department press corps was not satisfied. They pressed Crowley on whether their assessment had changed, and if not, why they chose not to inform American citizens of the ongoing risk? Here’s the exchange:
Q: But I was under the impression that the — that the responsibility of the State Department was for the safety and security of American people and to let them know when there are — when there are threats.
MR. CROWLEY: True. All true.
Q: And now you — now you’ve — now you’ve removed the — the word "Eilat" does not even appear in the new travel warning.
MR. CROWLEY: That’s true.
Q: And it’s still dangerous for Americans to go there, you believe.
MR. CROWLEY: That’s true.
Q: So why would you take it out?
MR. CROWLEY: We took it out because we felt that a warden message was the more appropriate way to communicate a particular risk factor for Eilat.
"I’m not denying it’s unusual to change a travel warning two times in two weeks," said a State Department official, speaking on background. The official said State took the blame for the error.
"We listened to what Israel had to tell us but it was a process failure here at the Department," the official said.
The rocket attacks were an isolated incident, not a trend, so the State Department now believes a travel to Eilat is OK, Crowley said. "I think Americans should feel free to travel to Israel and should take appropriate precautions knowing that there are still risks involved in visiting that country."
Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.
Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.
A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.
Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin
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