In another intrusion into the affairs of a sovereign country, the FBI contacted the family of Naomi Pilichowski, an American-Israeli wounded in last week’s Jerusalem bombing attack, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Pilichowski, the 18-year-old daughter of Mitzpeh Yericho Council Head Aliza Pilichowski and Rabbi Uri Pilichowski, a well-known educator who works at Nefesh B’Nefesh, made aliyah with her family eight years ago. She was standing at the bus stop when the attack occurred but b’chasdei Hashem, she was not seriously injured, only suffering from a minor cut and ringing in her ears.

Earlier this week, Pilchowski’s parents received an email from the FBI”s Victim Services Division saying that Naomi had been identified as a potential victim of a federal crime and it was seeking to investigate the crime.

“The FBI investigates suspected terrorist events that occur overseas in which American citizens are victims,” the e-mail stated. “The ability for the FBI to conduct a full investigation will be dependent upon the cooperation of the sovereign government in that country. The investigation of overseas crimes can be a complex and lengthy process, therefore we appreciate your patience and understanding during this time.”

Naomi’s father said that he believes it’s a “huge mistake for the FBI to get involved.”

“I don’t want the FBI to investigate [the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh], and I don’t want the FBI to investigate this. We’re a sovereign country.”

On a related note, Stephen Flatow, whose daughter Alisa Flatow was the first US tourist murdered in a suicide bombing in 1995, wrote an opinion article in The Jerusalem Post this week entitled: The FBI Should Investigate The Attack On US Citizen In Jerusalem Bombing.

In his article, Flatow asks a very reasonable question  – if the FBI is investigating the accidental death of Arab-American journalist Abu Akleh in Israel, why isn’t it investigating the intentional attempted murder, of Pilichowski, a Jewish American citizen in Israel?

“Palestinian Arab terrorists have murdered 146 American citizens, and wounded 204 more, since 1968,” Flatow wrote. “Yet, not one of those killers has ever been handed over to the United States for prosecution.”

“Over the years, I have had the opportunity to discuss this matter with senior officials of multiple administrations, Republicans as well as Democrats. The excuses I have heard as to why they don’t pursue Palestinian Arab killers of Americans have ranged from evasive to downright disingenuous.”

“For example, they have claimed that the US ‘can’t find’ the suspects, even when they are hiding in plain sight, by serving openly in the Palestinian security forces or – in the case of Sbarro pizzeria killer Ahlam Tamimi – hosting a radio show in Amman, Jordan.

“US officials also have claimed that nothing can be done because America does not have an extradition treaty with the Palestinian Authority – even though the US frequently arranges for the transfer of criminal suspects from countries with whom it does not have formal treaties.

“In fact, the real reason that the FBI is not investigating the latest attempt to murder an American citizen in Israel is the same reason it has never pursued any of the other Palestinian terrorists who have killed or injured Americans: because it would interfere with the administration’s goal of maintaining friendly relations with the Palestinian Authority in order to bring about the creation of a Palestinian state.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)