US says ambassador tricked over provocative Jerusalem picture

The US embassy in Israel has said ambassador David Friedman was duped into being pictured receiving a provocative photo of annexed east Jerusalem with the revered Al-Aqsa mosque erased, an episode that provoked Palestinian anger on Wednesday. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's adviser for religious affairs, Mahmoud Habbash, called Friedman a "terrorist settler" in comments published by official news agency WAFA. The Palestinian government was unconvinced by the embassy's explanation, with a spokesman calling the incident an example of "reckless and racist arrogance", according to WAFA.

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