Fake crisis: Biden and Lapid play opening instructions with fire to take care of politics at home

The debate surrounding the conclusions of the IDF investigation into the death of the journalist in Jenin was created following the mid-term elections for the American Congress and the Knesset elections, which dictate the conduct of both sides. The demand to review the instructions to open fire was a good solution for Biden, but Israel refused even before the issue became public

Barak Ravid

07/09/2022

Wednesday, September 7, 2022, 10:19 p.m. Updated: 10:50 p.m.

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Lapid in a message to the United States: "No one will dictate to us instructions to open fire" (IDF website)

No need to get excited.

The exchange of public messages between Washington and Jerusalem, following the publication of the final conclusions of the investigation into the death of the Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Aqla, is not a "crisis" between the Biden administration and the Lapid administration, but an expression of the internal politics on both sides.

The big picture

• The mid-term elections for the American Congress and the Knesset elections that will be held a few days apart in early November dictate the conduct of both sides in the affair.

• Each side wants to earn points in the opinion of its public.

  President Biden on the left wing of the Democratic Party, and Prime Minister Lapid (whose words on the subject sounded like a cross between Benjamin Netanyahu and Naftali Bennett) and Defense Minister Gantz on the soft right voters.

  It's fun and it's not lacking.

Facing the pressure of the progressives in the Democratic Party.

Biden (Photo: Reuters)

Behind the Scenes

• In recent months, the Biden administration has been under massive pressure from the progressive camp in the Democratic Party, which managed to mobilize dozens of senators who sent letters to the White House and the office of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken with a demand for an independent American investigation into the affair.

• The administration cannot and does not want to do an independent investigation.

  He can't send the FBI investigators to Jenin to question the Islamic Jihad men or the Cherry soldiers.

• The administration's solution in recent months was to use the word "Accountability", whose translation into Hebrew is "carrying responsibility".

  A senior Israeli official said that every time he asked the US State Department what they meant, he received a different answer.

• The demand to re-examine the IDF's instructions to open fire in the West Bank was a good solution for the US State Department. However, Israel made it clear to the US even before the issue became public that this would not happen.

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Shirin Abu Aqla (photo: official website, from Facebook)

the situation picture

• The US State Department's public demand for Israel to reexamine the opening fire instructions is similar to the Biden administration's statement that it is still committed to reopening the consulate in Jerusalem.

• In both cases, the White House and the State Department in Washington understand that the chances of this happening are zero, and in both cases the Biden administration has no desire to enter into a conflict with Israel that will not lead to any result.

• So what remains is to send the administration's spokespeople to appear in front of the cameras and declare that the United States will put pressure on Israel.

  It is doubtful whether this pressure will have any practical expression beyond that.

facing the soft right.

Lapid (Photo: Flash 90, Yonatan Zindel)

What next

• Behind the scenes, senior Israeli and American officials are actually talking about ways to cooperate in assimilating the lessons from the incident in which Shirin Abu Aqla was killed.

• The United States military has a lot of bad experience in harming civilians and journalists in combat zones.

  Recently, the United States Army even inaugurated a special training facility whose purpose is to reduce harm to the non-involved.

• The requirement to review the opening fire instructions may in the near future become learning and training sessions for soldiers and officers from both sides.

  It can only be helpful.

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• Yair Lapid