Double standard: FBI kowtows to Jordan and plays hardball with Israel

Being a correspondent in a dangerous area is a tough, risky and complicated profession. It is not for everyone. Those who choose to carry out this task know these risks but still choose to do it anyway.

Israel is a country permanently under attack by Islamist terrorists living in the Palestinian territories and even, to a lesser extent, by some Arabs residing in Israel. The Jewish state does what any country would do in such a situation: defend itself. In some regions of Israel, the risks are greater than in others, but security forces are there to combat Islamist groups or lone wolves who would murder all Jews if they could. Attacks by these groups and individuals also kill other sectors of the population, even the Arabs themselves. This is not my opinion, it is expressed by the terrorists themselves on a daily basis.

In an article by Lahav Harkov published in the Israeli daily newspaper The Jerusalem Post, the author points out the hypocrisy of the FBI after it opened an investigation into the death of the Palestinian American journalist Shirin Abu Akleh during an exchange of fire between Palestinian terrorists and Israeli forces half a year ago. Despite these efforts, the U.S. agency is not doing much at all to stop Jordanian Ahlam Ahmad al Tamimi, who masterminded the bombing of a Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem (2001) that killed 15 people, including two U.S. citizens. In addition, Harkov notes that four American civilians were among the 122 wounded. Al Tamimi was imprisoned after the attack, but in 2011 she was released along with approximately 1,000 terrorists in exchange for the soldier Guilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by Hamas in Gaza. The FBI considers al Tamimi a dangerous terrorist and is offering a $5 million reward for any information leading to her whereabouts.

Despite the notice issued by the FBI and the reward offered, Harkov stresses that finding al Tamimi isn't as complicated as the agency is making it seem, as she is currently in Jordan hosting a television program for the Hamas terrorist group. The problem is that the Arab country refuses to extradite her to the United States. However, it seems that for the FBI, those innocent people who were killed while simply eating a pizza in a restaurant are not as important as a journalist who was covering a shootout instigated by a group of terrorists who should not have been trying to kill people in the first place, rather working to improve the lives of Palestinians.

Journalist Barak Ravid noted on Axios that, much to the chagrin of the Israeli authorities, the White House denied that it had instructed the FBI to launch an investigation. However, the Israeli journalist points out that 20 Democratic senators wrote a letter urging the U.S. agency to investigate. The FBI's decision, Ravid says, was made before the Israeli elections, but it was officially relayed to Jerusalem by the U.S. Justice Department three days after the polls closed.

Ravid adds in the article that the White House insisted that they were not involved in the process that led to the Justice Department's decision; strange, to say the least.

Harkov notes in The Jerusalem Post that Israel was willing to conduct an immediate investigation but failed to do so because the Palestinian Authority (PA) refused to cooperate from the start. However, after U.S. pressure, the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank handed over the fatal bullet, which was thoroughly examined by a team of Israeli and U.S. investigators. The Israelis cooperated and were transparent with their American counterparts. In September, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) admitted that Abu Akleh's death may have been caused by the incidental gunfire of an Israeli soldier during the confrontation with Palestinian terrorists. However, no definitive conclusion has yet been reached.

At that time, the reporter's family began to make contact with some U.S. politicians sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.

Israel does not need the 'help' of the FBI. Nor does it need the U.S. Department of 'Justice' or the White House to investigate its citizens, politicians and soldiers. Clearly it is capable of being more transparent than the FBI on its own.

As Harkov points out, this appears to be an unprecedented situation. While the United States officially considers Israel to have an independent judiciary system capable of investigating and prosecuting its own soldiers when necessary, the FBI is still conducting an investigation against its own ally's wishes, even after the Israeli investigation had already come to its own conclusion.

The author adds that the Sbarro attack is just one example, "but there are 49 U.S. citizens, according to the Jewish Virtual Library, that have been murdered by Palestinians since then. The FBI doesn't seem to have done much to get justice for them, either."

Israel is not a perfect country, but, despite being surrounded by enemies who want to make it disappear and exterminate its entire population, its institutions work. It is an orderly country, and the vast majority of its inhabitants want to live in peace with their neighbors. People of different ethnicities, religions and cultures live together in the Jewish state with equal rights. The men and women who live there are free to live as they wish. In fact, among Israeli Arabs, there are wealthy businessmen, judges (even in the Supreme Court), policemen, soldiers, doctors, lawyers, countless university students and even parliamentary representatives who spew hatred against Israel on a daily basis. Furthermore, as I pointed out before, its institutions work, including the judiciary system, which is absolutely independent from the country's executive branch. Important politicians have been imprisoned for various reasons. So have soldiers who have acted irresponsibly, even in cases involving clashes with Palestinian terrorists. When these terrorists are wounded, they receive medical treatment like any other citizen, which is paid for by Israeli taxpayers.

This is quite a contrast to the savage and primitive tyrannies surrounding the Jewish state, isn't it?

Israel does not need the help of the FBI. Nor does it need the U.S. Department of Justice or the White House (even though it has tried to disengage itself from this situation) to investigate its citizens, politicians and soldiers. Clearly it is capable of being more transparent than the FBI on its own.

What is the FBI trying to accomplish with this investigation? How politicized are the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI? Why are they making such a historic decision to investigate the death of a journalist who was in an extremely dangerous area but have not lifted a finger for the rest of the U.S. citizens killed by Palestinian terrorists? What is behind all this? Who is pulling the strings and why? Did the White House really have no involvement in this decision? Will the FBI investigate what happened? The same FBI that hired a Russian spy in the 2016 investigation against Trump, the same FBI that interfered in the investigation of Hunter Biden's business dealings so his father could be president, the same FBI that ordered Facebook to spy on U.S. citizens who doubted the 2020 election, the same FBI that raided Donald Trump's home for obscure political motives? That FBI?

Instead of meddling in the affairs of a country that is an ally and whose institutions function as they should, they should try to answer these questions first.