Rabbi Marvin Hier, the founder and dean of the human rights group the Simon Wiesenthal Center, charged the US-sponsored Global Counterterrorism Forum of deliberately excluding Israel from a second meeting of the group that took place in Spain last week.

In a strongly worded letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Hier wrote that “when there was criticism following your announcement of the creation of the Global Counterterrorism Forum, which excluded Israel, I accepted the administration’s 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.”

Maria Otero, the undersecretary referred to in Hier’s letter, delivered a speech entitled “Victims of Terrorism” on July 9 in Madrid at the Global Counterterrorism Forum and failed to mention Israel as a country that has experienced terrorism.