Israel’s decision to release terrorist prisoners as a “gesture” to the Palestinian Authority led some Israeli MKs to criticized the United States for allegedly pushing the release. MK Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi) even wrote a strongly critical letter to Secretary of State John Kerry in which she accused him of “forcing Israel to capitulate to terrorism.”

However, it appears that U.S. actually opposed the prisoner release in at least one case.

According to The Daily Beast, the U.S. State Department expressed concern over the release of Al-Haaj Othman Amar Mustafa – but Israel decided to free him anyway.

Mustafa murdered Frederick Steven Rosenfeld, who was a U.S. citizen and a former U.S. Marine.

He and other attackers ambushed Rosenfeld, attacking him from behind after pretending to befriend him as he walked near his home in the town of Ariel, in Samaria (Shomron), in 1989. The three stabbed Rosenfeld and left him to die.

A State Department spokesperson told The Daily Beast, “The State Department conveyed the administration’s concerns regarding the release of this prisoner to the government of Israel, while recognizing the victim was a dual national of Israel and the United States.”

The Israeli side “acknowledged our views, but it was ultimately their decision to determine which prisoners to release. This is a very difficult situation for all involved, and further highlights the importance of making these negotiations successful,” she added.

Mustafa, along with other terrorist killers freed last Tuesday night, was welcomed as a hero upon his release.

The decision to release terrorists was made following meetings between Kerry and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu aimed at getting Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to return to the negotiating table.

Abbas had agreed to negotiate with previous Israeli prime ministers without preconditions, but under Netanyahu’s administration began demanding a full ban on Israeli construction east of the 1949 armistice line – a region home to over 500,000 Israeli citizens – before talks could begin. Netanyahu was reluctant to agree to a construction freeze after a previous building freeze which exacerbated Israel’s housing crisis and failed to yield productive talks with the PA.

Abbas agreed to meet with Netanyahu only when the building freeze was nearly over, then ended talks shortly afterward when the freeze ended.