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Rebuffing U.S., Israel's Lapid Says "No One Will Dictate Rules of Engagement to Us"
(Haaretz) Yaniv Kubovich and Ben Samuels - Israel's Prime Minister Yair Lapid defiantly said on Wednesday, "No one will dictate open fire regulations to us when we are fighting for our lives." Washington said it would ask Israel to rethink its rules of engagement in the West Bank following the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Lapid said he would "not allow anyone to put an IDF soldier on trial who defended himself against fire from terrorists, just to receive a round of applause from the world." Lapid's remarks echoed Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who said earlier that Israel's rules of engagement are set by the IDF chief of staff "alone, and he will continue to set the open fire policy in accordance with the operational needs and doctrine of ethics of the IDF." Following the Israeli comments, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel responded: "To reiterate, we continue to underscore the importance of accountability in this case, and we're going to continue to impress our Israeli partners to closely review its policies and practices on the rules of engagement, and consider additional steps that will mitigate risk in this circumstance."