However one interprets the findings of Israeli human rights group B’Tselem’s Jan. 12 report, it is earth-shattering. The official Israeli response merely confirmed what B’Tselem stated in no uncertain terms.

Israel’s Lod District Court last week ruled against Palestinian filmmaker Mahmoud Bakri, ordering him to pay hefty compensation to an Israeli soldier who was accused, along with the Israeli military, of carrying out war crimes in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank in 2002.

On Dec. 21, the US Congress passed the COVID-19 relief package as part of a larger $2.3 trillion bill intended to cover spending for the rest of the fiscal year. As usual, US representatives allocated a vast sum of money to Israel.