The State Department has become a rogue institution

Washington Free Beacon:

The State Department under Secretary Rex Tillerson has been locked in a growing power struggle with the White House that has angered officials in the West Wing and sparked claims that the Trump administration's top diplomatic organ is now in "open war" with the White House on a range of critical issues, including the Israeli-Palestinian impasse, Iran, the crisis with Qatar, and other matters, according to multiple sources who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon about the situation.

The State Department is said to be in a state of "massive dysfunction," with top officials working under Tillerson ignoring White House directives on critical staffing issues and key policy matters, according to multiple sources, including administration allies who are said to be increasingly frustrated with what is perceived as the White House's inability to control its own federal agencies.

The tensions have fueled an outstanding power battle between the West Wing and State Department that has handicapped the administration and resulted in scores of open positions failing to be filled with Trump confidantes. This has allowed former Obama administration appointees still at the State Department to continue running the show and formulating policy, where they have increasingly clashed with the White House's own agenda.

The latest flashpoint in this growing civil war is Israel, where a string of terror attacks has sidetracked the Trump administration's nascent efforts to get the Israelis and Palestinian back to the negotiating table.

Just hours after a Palestinian terrorist murdered several Jewish civilians, the State Department told the Free Beacon that it is not clear what motivates such violent acts. The statement sparked anger within the administration and on Capitol Hill, where many viewed the State Department's declaration as a sign the agency is openly rebelling against the White House.

"It's no secret that the State Department is waging an open political war, which includes policy insubordination and press campaigns, against the Trump White House," according to one veteran foreign policy analyst who regularly briefs the White House and Trump appointees in the State Department.

"Foggy Bottom is still run by the same people who designed and implemented Obama's Middle East agenda," the source said. "Tillerson was supposed to clean house, but he left half of them in place and he hid the other half in powerful positions all over the building. These are career staffers committed to preventing Trump from reversing what they created."
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There is more.

 On top of the insubordination, the State Department statements on Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East are just wrong.  The Palestinians are made up primarily of Islamic religious bigots and they want to destroy Israel.  They actively teach their children to murder Israelis and they pay their parents money if the kids kill an Israeli.

The tantrum over the metal detectors at the mosque built on the site of a Jewish temple is absurd.  They are a reasonable response to the violence perpetrated by Palestinians at the site.

Trump should be firing the people at the State Department who have issued these ridiculous statements about the responsibility for the violence.