The US vice president and Democratic candidate did not support the call by Aysenur Eygi’s family for an independent investigation.
Washington, DC – Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has denounced the killing of American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi by Israeli forces, but the US vice president has stopped short of endorsing calls for an independent investigation into the incident.
In a statement Wednesday, Harris called Eygi’s death last week in the occupied West Bank “tragic” and “unacceptable.” She also called for “full accountability” for the killing.
“Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this do not happen again,” Harris said.
“The preliminary investigation conducted by Israel has shown that this was the result of a tragic mistake for which the Israeli military is responsible. We will continue to press the Israeli government for answers and for continued access to the findings of the investigation so that we can have confidence in the results.”
Israeli forces shot Eygi in the head on September 6 as she protested an illegal Israeli outpost in the Palestinian territory.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military acknowledged that it had “probably” killed Eygi, but said she was hit “indirectly and unintentionally.”
Eygi, 26, lived in Washington state and was described by friends as cheerful and passionate about social justice.
Human rights advocates have long argued that Israel should not be allowed to investigate its own abuses, pointing out that the country’s authorities rarely prosecute its own soldiers for widespread violations of Palestinian rights.
That is why Eygi’s family had asked the United States to conduct its own investigation into the murder. But Washington has virtually rejected this request, saying it is waiting for the results of the Israeli investigation.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin both called Eygi’s killing “unprovoked and unjustified.” But their boss, President Joe Biden, was quick to suggest he accepted the Israeli explanation for the shooting.
“Apparently it was an accident. The ball bounced off the ground and was accidentally hit,” he told reporters outside the White House.
He then issued a statement Wednesday saying the United States expected to have “full access” to Israel’s preliminary investigation.
“Accountability must be fully established. And Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again,” Biden wrote in the statement.
None of the US officials — including Harris — have supported an independent investigation or committed to seeking accountability for Eygi’s killing.
Eygi is one of several Americans killed by Israel in recent years. The victims include 17-year-old Tawfiq Ajaq, who was shot dead in January, and veteran Tel Aviv Tribune correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed by Israeli forces in Jenin in 2022.
The United States has verbally demanded accountability in these cases, but has not imposed any sanctions on Israel for refusing to open criminal investigations into the incidents.
Israel receives billions of dollars in U.S. military aid each year, as well as diplomatic support from Washington at international forums.
Biden and Harris were criticized this week for not calling Eygi’s family to express their condolences or condemning Israel for killing her.
Critics have also drawn a contrast between the administration’s response to Eygi’s death and the killing of U.S. citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was captured in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and found dead in a tunnel in Gaza in late August.
Following Goldberg-Polin’s death, senior Biden administration officials unequivocally condemned her assassination, and the U.S. Justice Department announced new “terrorism” charges against Hamas leaders.
Human rights advocates say the strong reaction only underscores the lukewarm nature of the U.S. response to Eygi’s killing.
“Aysenur and her family deserve justice. As her family continues to grieve, President Biden and Vice President Harris have chosen to defend the foreign military that killed her instead of calling the family to express their condolences,” Juliette Majid, a friend of Eygi, told Tel Aviv Tribune in a statement.
“How long will the family have to wait before the United States conducts an independent investigation into the deliberate murder of an American citizen?”