NPR’s latest report is trailblazing for an American news organization in documenting the pattern of Israeli impunity. Estrin cites Israel’s excuse about Abu Akleh– we can’t investigate without the bullet, and the Palestinian Authority has it. But he promptly quotes Avner Gvaryahu of the Israeli veterans’ group, Breaking the Silence, about Israel’s obfuscation game.

“This ambiguity is actually helpful for the military and for the Israeli government to not take more responsibility… There is still a lot that isn’t transparent in terms of what the army itself knows… What were his orders? What did the other soldiers here? I can’t even imagine a situation when we have a soldier alone in a vehicle, right? There’s a driver. There’s other soldiers. There’s commanders with them. Anyone who is seeking the truth should demand to make that information public.”

That is key. Those who seek the truth should be making demands on Israel now. But the State Department is a joke on this issue, accepting the Israeli lies, even as reporters shake their heads. Joe Biden doesn’t want Abu Akleh to come in between himself and Israel when he visits in July, or in the runups to the midterms. Just like he wants Jamal Khashoggi’s murder to go away.                    https://mondoweiss.net/2022/06/israel-is-withholding-information-about-u-s-journalists-killing-6-weeks-ago-npr/