Even before the details are clarified: the death of the journalist in Jenin complicates Israel in a severe political crisis

The incident in which a reporter to Jazeera Shirin Abu Akala was killed drowned Israel in a severe image crisis.

The death of the esteemed journalist, who was also an American citizen, will resonate with the public and the world media.

Israel admits that it will be difficult to change the narrative.

"The maximum you can hope for is a loss of points"

Lightning Ravid

11/05/2022

Wednesday, May 11, 2022, 2:00 p.m.

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In the video: Al-Jazeera journalist shot dead by gunfire in Jenin;

The IDF estimates: Killed by Palestinian gunfire (screenshot, documentation on social networks according to section 27A of the Copyright Law)

Even before all the details of the incident were clarified, the incident in Jenin in which al-Jazeera journalist Shirin Abu-Akla was killed had already caused Israel severe damage and complicated it with a large-scale international political and image crisis.

More on Walla!

Bennett: Suspicion that the journalist was killed by Palestinian fire;

The IDF distributed a video of the incident

To the full article

Won great professional appreciation.

Sheerin Abu Akla (Photo: screenshot, documentation on social networks according to section 27A of the Copyright Law)

why is it important

• Abu Akala, who has been covering the West Bank for al-Jazeera for more than two decades, has been a familiar face throughout the Arab world and beyond.

• Beyond being famous, she was also highly regarded professionally, and her death will resonate not only in the public and at the political level, but also in many new systems in the region and the world.

• Abu-Akla was also an American citizen, a fact that makes her death an even greater complication.

  The US Ambassador to Israel has already called for a thorough investigation of the case.

Behind the Scenes

• Half an hour after the first reports of Abu-Akala's death, there was an urgent consultation of the National Information Staff together with representatives of the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the IDF.

• The main goal set was to try and fend off the narrative that was emerging, according to which Abu-Akla was killed by Israeli fire, and to try to change headlines in the media around the world that adopted him.

• To this end, a short video was filmed by Palestinian militants this morning, in which they are heard saying that they hit a soldier.

  Since no soldier was injured in the incident, it was claimed in Israel that this was evidence of harm to Abu Akala.

• This circumstantial video, which does not show Abu Akala at all, was adopted by Prime Minister Bennett to claim in an official statement in Hebrew and English that there is a possibility that the journalist was killed by Palestinian gunfire.

• But shortly afterwards, Al-Jazeera released another video of the incident from a different angle.

  The video shows heavy gunfire and Abu-Akla is seen lying on the ground motionless after being hit.

• Al-Jazeera's video shows that the incident took place in a completely different place from what was seen in the video distributed by Israel, which casts doubt on the Israeli claim.

The big picture

• Once Israel realized that Abu Akala was also an American citizen, the attitude of the political echelon to the event became much more serious.

  A month and a half before Biden's planned visit, the incident could cause great tension with the administration.

• Many in the Democratic Party, who on a normal day have a very critical attitude towards the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, will use this event to prove their claim that President Biden is not putting enough pressure on Israel.

• Unlike a thousand thousand differences, the impact of her death could be similar to that of the bombing of the AP building by Israel during the recent war in Gaza, an event that significantly increased Biden's pressure on Netanyahu to end the war.

• The incident in Jenin may strengthen the claim made by Palestinians in recent months that there is no difference between the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Israeli occupation of the territories, and that the world should treat both in the same way.

What are they saying

• Senior officials in Jerusalem admit that Israel can at best only minimize the damage.

  "This is an explanatory emergency and the maximum we can hope for is a loss of points," said a senior Israeli official.

between the lines

• Abu Akala was also a famous figure in the Arab public in Israel.

  The incident in Jenin could have turned out to be the latest nail in the political coffin of the Bennett-Lapid government.

  The fact that on such a day Mansour Abbas still announced the return of RAAM to the coalition entitles him to no less than the Medal of Heroism.

• news

• Political-political

Tags

• Al Jazeera

• Jenin

• IDF

• Palestinians