Jerusalem
Less than two hours after the demise on May 11 of journalist
Shireen Abu Akleh,
I contacted
Hussein al-Sheikh,
the Palestinian minister liable for cooperation with Israel. We all agree that one thing terrible occurred, I informed him. I proposed that we maintain a joint investigation into her demise.
The Palestinians refused. We could by no means know precisely what brought on her demise, however the necessary factor is that, like 511 different journalists who had been killed lately world wide, she died whereas finishing up her duties. Being a journalist in wartime is a harmful enterprise. I do know—I used to be a journalist for 31 years and coated the First Lebanon War.
What occurred subsequent can’t be excused by the fog of struggle. Palestinian propaganda used Abu Akleh, accusing Israel of intentionally concentrating on her. She would certainly have identified higher.
If the outrageous declare that Israel targets journalists had been true, why would she have labored within the area for greater than 20 years? How can or not it’s defined that also at the moment lots of of international journalists work in the identical place? Al Jazeera, a community run by an Islamist state that’s brazenly hostile to Israel, has everlasting employees in Israel who’re protected by the state the community slanders frequently?
The Israeli-Palestinian battle receives disproportionate protection in contrast with another battle on earth. Explain that to your self nonetheless you would like, however every part you already know about this battle is the product of lots of of journalists who work within the subject beneath the safety of a democratic state that believes with all its coronary heart in each freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
Missing from the media protection of Shireen Abu Akleh’s demise is the explanation for the outbreak of the preventing that led to it. Israel carried out antiterror operations across the metropolis of Jenin as a result of terror cells that murdered harmless Israeli civilians got here from there. Six days earlier than Abu Akleh’s demise, three Israelis had been slaughtered with axes within the metropolis of Elad.
The present Israeli authorities, shaped precisely a yr in the past, is probably the most various in Israel’s historical past, and probably the most various in world historical past. It is made up of Jews and Arabs, liberals and conservatives. It was created out of a deep dedication to strengthening the foundations of Israel’s democracy—unbiased courts, safety and help for minorities, equality earlier than the legislation and freedom of the press. Israel has survived wars and waves of terrorism with out ever dropping sight of its core values. In the fixed battle between our safety wants and our democratic ideas, we always remember that one is hole with out the opposite.
Mr. Lapid is Israel’s international minister.
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Appeared within the June 10, 2022, print version.
Source: www.wsj.com”