opinion
Why Sic the FBI on the IDF?
By Clifford D. May
Mauro Rodrigues / AdobeStock
C overing armed conflicts is a risky
business. Shireen Abu Akleh, a
reporter for Al-Jazeera, must have known
that. A Jerusalem-born, naturalized U.S. cit-
izen, Abu Akleh went to the West Bank
town of Jenin on May 11 to cover a clash
between the Israeli Defense Forces and
members of a Palestinian terrorist cell
responsible for more than a dozen recent
murders of Israeli civilians in Israeli cit-
ies. A bullet struck and killed her.

She was the 13th Al-Jazeera jour-
nalist killed in a conflict zone some-
where around the world since the
news-and-propaganda outlet, owned by
the state of Qatar, was founded in 1996.

Palestinian Authority spokesmen
immediately claimed that Abu Akleh had
been murdered by an Israeli soldier, and the PA
refused to cooperate with the IDF’s investigation.

On May 19, 57 Democratic House members
called on the FBI and State Department to launch
an investigation into Abu Akleh’s death.

On June 23, two dozen Democratic senators, led
by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, called on President Biden
to “ensure the direct involvement of the United
States in the investigation.”
What did these letters say about Israelis being
attacked from the West Bank, about their right to
defend themselves and about the responsibility of
the Palestinian Authority to deal with terrorists in
the territories it governs? Not a word.

In July, the U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel
and the Palestinian Authority (USSC) — a highly
respected three-star general — concluded that
“gunfire from IDF positions was likely responsible
for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh.”
The State Department added that there was
“no reason to believe that this was intentional but
rather the result of tragic circumstances during
an IDF-led military operation against factions of
Palestinian Islamic Jihad,” a U.S.-designated foreign
terrorist organization.

Nevertheless, the IDF continued to investigate
and, in September, acknowledged “a high possi-
bility that Ms. Abu Akleh was accidentally hit by
IDF gunfire aimed at suspects identified as armed
Palestinian gunmen.”
So, case closed, right? Apparently not. The U.S.

Justice Department recently informed the Israeli
Justice Ministry that the FBI has opened another
investigation. Last week, outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Yair
Lapid responded.

“The IDF thoroughly investigates any irregular
event and is committed to the values and laws of
democracy,” he said. “Our soldiers will not be inves-
tigated by the FBI or by any other foreign country
or entity, however friendly it may be. We will not
abandon our soldiers to foreign investigations,” he
said. The United States follows the same policy, based
on the principle that the legitimacy of the justice
systems of free and democratic nations deserve
respect. Americans — and only Americans — inves-
tigate and discipline American service members.

This policy has been put into practice on numerous
occasions. The Committee to Protect Journalists has docu-
mented 13 reporters killed by the American mili-
tary in Iraq. One example: In 2003, Tareq Ayyoub, a
Jordanian working for Al Jazeera, was killed when
an American missile struck the station’s Baghdad
bureau. More recently, the United States has declined to
cooperate with investigations by the International
Criminal Court involving American troops and CIA
officers accused of war crimes in Afghanistan.

Neither the United States nor Israel rec-
ognizes the authority of the ICC.

So, why go after Israel? According to
Axios, both the White House and the
State Department have told the Israeli
government that “they were not behind
the FBI decision.”
Who was? Van Hollen has been ada-
mant that the United States must dis-
trust Israel. “There are a number of
us that are not going to allow this to
be swept under the rug,” he said at an
August Senate sub-panel hearing that
was intended to focus on China.

He might consider the root cause of
this tragedy. Last week, two people
were killed in Poland by what was
likely a surface-to-air missile misfired
by Ukrainians attempting to defend
themselves from Russian missiles. Rep.

Adam Smith, Democratic chairman of
the House Armed Services Committee,
observed that blame for the tragedy should fall on
Russia for “invading and attacking Ukraine.”
As noted above, terrorists from the West Bank
have for months been infiltrating into Israel and
murdering Israelis.

Why is Van Hollen giving them a pass?
Final question: Did no one from the FBI or the
Justice Department think to have a discussion
with the White House or State Department before
proceeding with a probe sure to damage America’s
relations with its closest Middle Eastern ally?
The least bad — and perhaps most likely — end
to this episode: The FBI takes one more look at the
evidence, finds nothing new or surprising, and then
quietly closes the case, confirming the conclusions
of the USSC and the IDF.

Some of us, however, will continue to wonder:
Why were Van Hollen and his colleagues so deter-
mined to sic the FBI on the IDF? JE
Clifford D. May is founder and president of the
Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a colum-
nist for the Washington Times.

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