The report said, however, that it might consider giving up to $5 million to people who provide information about any of the 12 Americans murdered in the region.
The Zionist Organization of America, which long has advocated rewards for the capture of Palestinians who have killed Americans, was outraged by the report.
“Clearly, the State Department is doing anything they can to protect Arafat’s image,” ZOA President Morton Klein said. “They are refusing to admit that he harbors killers of Americans.”
The issue of rewards was raised last month in a meeting between Secretary of State Colin Powell and leaders from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, an umbrella group of 54 Jewish organizations.
“It sends the message that Americans killed in Israeli areas are treated differently than those in Europe or other areas,” said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents. “The message should be that Americans are treated the same no matter where they are.”
Hoenlein said the State Department’s argument that rewards discourage the capture of terrorists in Israel — but not, apparently, in other parts of the world — is illogical.
“If it’s an impediment to capture, it should be an impediment everywhere,” Hoenlein said. “Why would that not apply universally?”
He said that while reward money probably would not lead to the killers’ extraditions, it would be a signal that the United States take the murders seriously.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has taken a more moderate tone on the issue.
“Terrorists who have murdered American citizens should be pursued and brought to justice,” AIPAC spokesman Kenneth Bricker said. “Anything that further contributes to this apprehension, we support.”
A spokesman for the State Department was unavailable for comment.