Amnesty says Israel is an apartheid state. Many Israeli politicians agree | Chris McGreal

While some in Washington DC and US media decry Amnesty's conclusions, it's a different story among some Israeli leaders

Who speaks for Israel? Rightwing lobby groups in Washington and US politicians would have Americans believe that it is them - and not Israel's own former prime ministers and others who actually live in the Jewish state.

Earlier this week Amnesty International released a report making a 280-page case that Israel's treatment of Palestinians constitutes apartheid. The response in the US was a wave of orchestrated outrage - outrage that not only denies what many prominent Israelis say is true but, in effect, denies their right to say it.

Chris McGreal is the former Guardian correspondent in Jerusalem and Johannesburg