Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir excoriated the Biden administration for its comments that it wants to see “Israel’s accountability” regarding the death of a Palestinian teenage girl in Jenin earlier this week.

Jana Zakarneh, 16, was standing next to an armed terrorist on the rooftop of a Jenin building as dozens of terrorists opened fire at Israeli security forces. She was most likely killed by an IDF sniper who was protecting the lives of IDF soldiers.

Her relatives gave conflicting reports about why she had chosen to go up to the roof while terrorists were shooting at IDF soldiers. It is suspected that she may have been assisting the terrorists by acting as an observer and taking photos of IDF soldiers. According to a JNS report, she regularly photographed soldiers for terrorists in her neighborhood, and cellphone footage from her camera is proof of that, among other pieces of evidence.

On Monday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in an answer to a reporter’s question about the incident that the Biden administration “hopes to see accountability in this case.”

Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday morning slammed Price’s statement.

“The comments by the American government are distressing,” Ben-Gvir said. “When hundreds of bullets were fired by terrorists at IDF soldiers and Border Police officers, we cannot judge our soldiers as if they’re working in a laboratory situation.”

“The teenage girl’s death is a tragedy, but there is also no doubt that any other army in the world would have completed the kind of operation we carried out in Jenin with dozens of civilians killed, and not with measured, pinpoint operations.”

“I call on the residents of Jenin and the civilian population there not to leave their homes when terrorists are shooting at IDF soldiers. I give my backing to the IDF soldiers and Border Police officers. They have the right to defend themselves.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)