Outgoing Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Monday said Israel would not cooperate with an FBI investigation into the death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, and warned that the US administration was making a “serious mistake.”

A thorough Israel Defense Forces investigation concluded that the source of fire that killed Abu Akleh during a fierce firefight in Jenin back in May of this year cannot be conclusively determined. The IDF did, however, acknowledge that there is a high probability she was hit by an Israeli bullet as soldiers returned fire toward Palestinian terrorist gunmen amongst whom Abu Akleh and other reporters were “embedded.”

The Palestinians have all along insisted that Israel deliberately killed Abu Akleh. No surprise there.

But even American officials earlier this year, while admitting they too couldn’t prove it, blamed Israel anyway.

Now the FBI wants to conduct its own full investigation into the matter, but Israel has been down this path of international kangaroo court justice before, and is no longer willing to play along.

“The US Justice Ministry’s decision to investigate the unfortunate death of Shireen Abu Akleh is a serious mistake,” read a statement released by Gantz this week. If Gantz is soon replaced as defense minister by Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich, Washington can expect far more curt responses in the future.