Biden administration officials have asked Israel to review its military’s rules of engagement for operations in Judea and Samaria and for Jerusalem to publish the conclusions of its report into the killing of Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11.
See: What Really Happened to Slain Al Jazeera Journalist
American and Israeli officials told Axios that the requests were made in a recent call between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz.
Blinken made the request after recently meeting with Abu Akleh’s family members in Washington, and after the release of America’s own investigation into Abu Akleh’s death.
Abu Akleh was killed in crossfire between IDF soldiers and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists in the city of Jenin.
Rules of engagement are guidelines used by the military to determine when the use of live fire is justified during operations.
Accommodating gesture, or rank hypocrisy?
To be fair, the Biden administration felt compelled to do something in responses to Abu Akleh’s death after the Palestinians and their proponents succeeded in turning her into a cause célèbre (despite the fact that she is but one among thousands of journalists killed on assignment in recent decades).
A non-pushy “request” for the IDF to review its rules of engagement was probably deemed the most mild way to be seen taking Israel to task, while not really holding the Jewish state responsible.
Even so, Gantz reportedly reminded Blinken that war is messy, and collateral damage, including harm to civilians who purposefully place themselves on the battlefield, is not uncommon.
The United States military is certainly no stranger to this phenomenon, with its second invasion of Iraq deemed one of the most deadly conflicts ever for war reporters. And many of those journalists’ deaths were reportedly covered-up before being exposed in the Wikileaks scandal.
Taken together, all of this further bolsters the perception that Israel is held to a double or higher standard than every other nation, including the United States.
With reporting by JNS.
