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IDF: War crime charges over Gaza offensive are 'legal terror'
By Tomer Zarchin
Tags: gaza, war crime, israel news 

War crimes charges brought abroad against Israeli soldiers and officers involved in Operation Cast Lead are nothing but "legal terrorism," Col. Liron Liebman, who heads the military prosecution's international law department, said Wednesday.

Liebman, who recently replaced Col. Pnina Sharvit-Baruch, was speaking at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem about the role of the law in fighting terror.

There is little chance that war crimes charges abroad will end in conviction, or, for that matter, in acquittal, since procedural issues will end up derailing the allegations before they reach that stage, Liebman told Haaretz. But that doesn't much matter to those bringing the charges, he said.
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"The goal is achieved when the charges are publicized," Liebman said. "The objective is to cause damage to morale, more than legal damage."

In Spain, for instance, legal charges are being brought over the Gaza war. Liebman says this is no coincidence: The country was the site of major protests against Israel while the fighting was taking place.

He also said the Israel Defense Forces would be completing five investigations within the next few weeks relating to a variety of wartime incidents. Although the military prosecution was involved in providing legal opinions regarding Operation Cast Lead, Liebman said it did not play a role in choosing the targets nor could it be present in the pilot's cockpit.

"Even the brigade commander doesn't always know what's going on," he said. "The fog of war applies to us as well. You have to make a distinction between planning the targets ahead of time and checking whether it's possible to attack targets [on the one hand] and ad hoc factors in the field [on the other], when there are forces firing on our troops or a pilot has three seconds to decide one way or the other."

If the investigations reveal that Israeli troops committed offenses or exceeded their authority, "they will be dealt with appropriately," Liebman said.

"Commanders during the fighting shouldn't be losing sleep because of the investigations," he added. "It's impossible not to make mistakes in such a crowded environment, under pressure. There's a large gap between mistakes and the 'war crimes' people like to accuse us of."

Indeed, international law expert Yoram Dinstein said at a conference at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv late last month that a ratio of three or four civilian deaths per combatant death was the norm in most wars.
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  1.   "We are not guilty!" Say investigators..... 03:01  |  B S Potter 19/02/09
  2.   norm in most wars 05:24  |  Ashamed 19/02/09
  3.   Ashamed where are charges against Darfur mass murderers 06:15  |  H 19/02/09
  4.   Truth brings consequences... 07:07  |  BBSNews 19/02/09
  5.   H, Those charges will come 07:25  |  Murray 19/02/09
  6.   #4 miccchael the expert on sfa pronounces 08:31  |  v hardman 19/02/09
  7.   This is an amazing article 09:47  |  Colin Wright 19/02/09
  8.   Terror? 13:13  |  Davids 19/02/09
  9.   i think he`s right 13:50  |  lady from USA 19/02/09
  10.   #3 H 16:05  |  Stuart 19/02/09
  11.   Destroying the Evidence? 17:01  |  Mark Lincoln 19/02/09
  12.   Isreal needs to defend itself 17:07  |  Shan 19/02/09
  13.   Colin Wright 17:26  |  Yaeli 19/02/09
  14.   oops 18:15  |  Sonya 19/02/09
  15.   losses in war 19:10  |  Ely 19/02/09
  16.   Silence on Hamas atrocities 23:25  |  JML 19/02/09
  17.   to #7 02:55  |  none 20/02/09
  18.   Logic 03:35  |  A. Fata 20/02/09
  19.   IDF: War crime charges over Gaza offensive are "legal terror" 04:26  |  Isi Erez 20/02/09
  20.   Liebman`s predictable response to war crimes charges 04:27  |  Johnboy 20/02/09
  21.   Let`s get this straight. 06:23  |  H 20/02/09
  22.   As for charges for `others`... 20:36  |  American 20/02/09
  23.   Shan- your context is lacking 20:50  |  American 20/02/09
  24.   @American, post 22 01:16  |  Murray 21/02/09
  25.   American who calls attempts to condemn Darfur genocide pitiful. 06:42  |  H 21/02/09
  26.   H, pipe down, brother. 10:35  |  Murray 21/02/09
  27.   shameful maniqueism.... 23:32  |  Pedro 21/02/09
  28.   Legal Terror! 01:28  |  Mike Adams 22/02/09
  29.   "Legal terror" 01:49  |  Sabah 22/02/09
  30.   #3 #25 There are arrest warrants issued over Darfur 02:26  |  Jim 22/02/09
  31.   H 04:16  |  Mona 22/02/09
  32.   Isi Erez 04:27  |  Mona 22/02/09
  33.   Israel needs to defend itself? 06:04  |  Steve 22/02/09
  34.   Darfur 09:36  |  Halamedvav 22/02/09
  35.   Legal terror 01:17  |  rob 17/04/09
  36.   legal terror 01:32  |  rob 17/04/09
  37.   Liebman the skunk 06:44  |  Lola Flores 24/04/09
  38.   i got a better scare word 02:06  |  goal 22/06/09
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