What does this mean???

Question

The U.S. supports Israel, and wishes to divert international attention from(and tacitly maintain) the occupation of Palestine.
I need help figuring out what the second part means.

Answer 1

The US supports Israel - it gives it political backing and sells arms to them. However, Israel has invaded and taken over Palestine - another country - which is highly contraversial. As the US supports Israel, they could be seen to be supporting this occupation. This could lose them the support of other countires (especially those in the Middle East). By diverting attention away from that issue, they are not likely to get criticised for it so much.