Sir, – Moshe Turpaz, chair of the Knesset Israel-Ireland Friendship League, wishes to divert international attention from the sharp focus on the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to the supposed “bigger picture”, which he claims is that Israel wishes to sit “at the one table” with the Palestinian Authority to reach a peaceful solution (“Israeli MP calls Al Jazeera journalist’s killing ‘tragic’ and a ‘mistake’”, News, July 8th).
It is difficult to reconcile Mr Turpaz’s claims with reality. Can he be unaware that current prime minister Yair Lapid (his own party leader), erstwhile prime minister Naftali Bennett, and resurgent contender Binyamin Netanyahu have repeatedly rejected the possibility of negotiations with the Palestinians during their term? Is he oblivious to increasingly obligatory pre-election staples such as promises to stonewall the possiblity of a Palestinian state, and boasts of past war crimes, for instance Benny Gantz’s claim to have sent Gaza “back to the stone age”?
Returning, then, to the topic of the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, Mr Turpaz’s conditional pseudo-apology in claiming that, “We are not sure we did it, but if we did, we are very sorry about it and we are sure to take actions now to make sure that journalists are kept safe in those areas of fighting”, would be comical if it were not so dangerous.
It is the responsibility of our political leaders to challenge such implausible claims, to maintain a sharp focus on ongoing war crimes, and to formulate a cohesive national response. – Yours, etc,
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BRIAN Ó ÉIGEARTAIGH,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
