Israel mulls internal probe of Gaza war
Decision to be part of Israel's response to Goldstone report; inquiry committee to consist of senior Israeli jurists.
By News Agencies and Amos Harel Tags: Goldstone report Israel news Gaza warIsrael is likely to tell the United Nations that it will agree to the appointment of a committee tasked with focusing on a few issues related to last year's military operation in the Gaza Strip.
An agreement to this effect is being hammered out between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi. The examination committee would consist of senior Israeli jurists. It would hear testimony from the country's political and military leaders as well as the IDF investigators who conducted probes into incidents that occurred during Operation Cast Lead but would not be authorized to question officers and soldiers who took part in the Gaza incursion.
The decision will apparently be part of Israel's response to the Goldstone report, the final version of which is being completed. The document will be given to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon prior to the February 5 convening of the General Assembly to discuss progress on the report and its recommendations.
However, Diaspora and Information Minister Yuli-Alon Edelstein on Tuesday said Israel will not establish a commission of inquiry into allegations of war crimes committed during last winter's Gaza war.
"There is no intention of establishing a commission of inquiry," said Edelstein.
"Israel as per a UN request is submitting a document which replies to very specific allegations," Edelstein told Israel Radio. He was speaking from New York, where he was scheduled to meet UN officials.
The possibility of creating a committee of examination or inquiry has been discussed by the political and military leadership since the publication in September of the Goldstone report. The main opposition to the appointment of a body with broad authority came from Barak and Ashkenazi, who fear the possibility of operational commanders facing prosecution. Recently, however, they agreed to meet some of the UN's demands so as to reduce the harm caused by the report without causing damage to combat soldiers and officers.
Under Barak's proposal, which is acceptable to Netanyahu and to Ashkenazi, the committee would focus on two main issues: the quality of the investigations conducted by the IDF of incidents and of the decisions taken by the cabinet, the security cabinet and the IDF General Staff regarding the policy of the use of force in the operation. The committee will have to determine whether the internal investigations met the relevant international standards. On the civilian side it will ask whether there is a basis to the Goldstone report's claims - which are categorically rejected by Israeli officials - that the operation was planned in advance as a punitive campaign against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
The committee, if it is indeed appointed, will have the authority to summon everyone who was in charge of the IDF investigations and anyone who took part in the main deliberations on the civilian level. It will not have the authority to question operational commanders.
The intention is to include on the panel Israeli jurists with international standing and perhaps also an international jurist. One name that has been mentioned in discussions is Prof. Alan M. Dershowitz.
A final decision has not yet been made with regard to the committee. Netanyahu will apparently have to get both Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman on board.
Israel's response to the UN will reject most of the fundamental claims of the Goldstone report: that it intentionally waged a punitive campaign against a civilian population, including the destruction of infrastructure; that Gaza is still under Israeli occupation despite the disengagement; that the warfare must be examined against human rights law (which is tougher on armies) and not international humanitarian law (which would hold Israel to a lower standard); that Israel's enforcement system is inoperative and that its only purpose is to provide immunity to decision makers - and that as a result efforts must be made to investigate and prosecute the Israelis responsible via international institutions.
The results of internal IDF investigations of incidents cited in the Goldstone report contradicted those of the UN committee. Some of the investigations, however, are not finished, so Israel's response might treat these cases in a general rather than a specific manner.
Israel's response to the UN is expected to include a progress report on the IDF's investigations into 140 incidents that occurred during Operation Cast Lead. Of these, 35 were investigated or are being investigated by the IDF's Criminal Investigations Division. About 8 Gazans testified at the Erez checkpoint in connection to the incidents, with the mediation of international humanitarian organizations.
In the wake of the Goldstone report, which dealt with more than 30 incidents, the IDF initiated 11 CID investigations. Two of them turned out to be different reports of the same incident and were closed when the Military Advocate General's Corp concluded that no crime was committed. The other nine cases are still being investigated.
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Explosion during Israel's invasion of Gaza. |
| Photo by: (Reuters) |
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Non sequitur
JB:"Honestly, sunshine, how much damage has that 8-year "bombardment" done?" Why don't you ask the people of Gaza Johnboy? What did the policy do for their standard of living? Ask the affected and injured whether it did any damage? How much damage has it done to Hamas? The are pariahs, no-one will talk to them except Iran. Then ask the people of Sderot how much damage was caused. Yet another ignorant armchair comment.
S!: "I`ll tell you what jake give me your address in ottawa, and I`ll fire missiles at your house every day for a few weeks...until you get up and leave that stolen land you live on..." Let's see.... If you were locked away behind barbed wire and guard towers well away from Ottowa... and you had to make those rockets in your backyard... and Jake was allowed to send helicopter gunships to shoot back at you every time you set up your dinky little rockets... Nah, I don't think you would have much success at getting jake to leave his house, Superjew! Heck, I doubt you'd have much success at hitting Ottowa, much less hitting Jake. S!: "hamas launched missiles for 8 yrs and you call that scant?" Honestly, sunshine, how much damage has that 8-year "bombardment" done?
#17. Hurling hackneyed invectives just don?t do it anymore. Someone as sure of their case like you are should welcome the whole matter being referred to The Hague.
In a tizzy are we? Worm? That is low. To the ground I mean. Anyway like clockwork the same hackneyed invectives appear and again are paid heed to by no one possessing even a modicum of intelligence. Tell you what though. Someone as cocksure of your case as you are should relish the opportunity of having these foul accusations quashed once and for all. I am sure The Hague would be pleased as punch to do just that.
give me your address in ottawa, and I'll fire missiles at your house every day for a few weeks...until you get up and leave that stolen land you live on... is that "scant" enough for you? hamas launched missiles for 8 yrs and you call that scant? you're a pathetic worm of a joke..maybe you go to carlton where they have the annual jew hate festival they disguise as a conference on apartheid? way to go jake..keep it up. I can see you're not wasting your life...LOL
With so many restrictions placed on these jurists, how can anyone possibly believe that the investigation will be fair and open. The results are already known (ie. that the IDF did nothing wrong), so why bother with this political whitewash? Without a truly independent and thorough investigation, Israel cannot possibly disprove the Goldstone Report. Anyone who followed the events of the Lead Cast invasion knows full well that Goldstone was right. Whether Hamas convene's a similar 'independent investigation' or a real one is irrelevant.
The idea of an inquiry into Cast Lead that doesn't allow questioning of the soldiers that took part is like something out of Alice in Wonderland. Most people will know that many soldiers have already given incriminating evidence to the 'Breaking the Silence' report. Presumably Israeli leaders and army chiefs are concerned that some soldiers might actually tell the truth about their crimes... I smiled at the notion of a soldier-free inquiry but laughed out loud when I read that Prof. Dershowitz might be asked to be an adjudicator. He is well known as the supreme apologist for Israeli crimes against the Palestinians. Does anyone seriously think his findings will have any credence to the world at large?
An obvious sham that will not enhance the jew State?s image abroad. Quite the opposite actually. As will be the case for America should it use its veto power in the Security Council, assuming the report gets there. As an aside who cares about what happened 40 years ago, or 65 for that matter. There is at best scant justification for what befell Gaza just a little more than a year ago.
"Still trying to hide what we all know happened---and saw on our TV screens." What were you expecting to see on your TV. It was not a fiction film. What you had watch was a real war, the truth is, war is HELL. We don't have to hide anything. Everything was open and is open. What you don't want to understand is if there was any other army instead of IDF the results would be 10 times more. This war was fighted between Jordan's king Hussein and Palies in 1970. King Hussein had killed 10~25 thounsand Palies in 15 days. More or less the same war with the same time span. The results is 1 to 10-25. You could not compare IDF with any other army on this world to fight such a war in a densly populated area and get results like this. I bet anything with you, If it was any other army the results would be 10 times more. Why do you cry? Don't you or they were yelling before the war that if Israel would attack it would pay very dearly. Don't you justify the Qassam launching to civilian Israelis
Yes, you are right: Israel was patient after having stolen and occupied the Gaza land. Israel left Gaza without any negotiation with the Palestinians about compensation for the permant theft of land and water during many years. Then Israel imprisoned the democratically elected members of the Palestinain parlament and closed the Gaza borders.The Palestinians sent to you some primitive rockets being permanently bombed and killed their political leaders as a simple reminder for being treated correctly. Israel is not a defenseless country being threatened by the Palestinians with their very primitive weapons, Israel has the most sophisticated army which has proved the effectiveness of their killing machinery in Libanon, in the West bank and finally in Gaza. Please Jon, be aware, that Israel can no longer fool the world even if their Jewish lobby in USA fights hard for it. Isarel will vanish if the course of their politic will not5 change. Even with their A- bombs.
I don't think that you make any difference between israelies and jews!! Don't forget it's an occupation of a land that belongs to the palestinians. So it's all illegal... You should apologize to your fellow jews!
Since the UN is anything but neutral when it comes to Israel. It is not surprising you would object to Prof. Dershowitz, he knowledge of the ME is extensive, he is on the record opposing settlements and considers them an obstacle to peace. But what he will do is keep the situation in proper context something that all anti-Israeli writers fear. When the issues are discussed in context the Palestinians typically fall short.
All you can say is that if the team selecting the commission think Dershowitz is the answer, then they REALLY don't understand the problem. The problem is that the international community suspects the IDF investigation was a whitewash and if the mention of Dershowitz is anything to go by then this report will just be a whitewash of the original whitewash. And if that's the case, then the path to the Hague will still be open for IDF officers and Israeli ministers.
Is any investigation by Hamas, right. While Israel has investigated and prosecuted IDF soldiers Hamas to my knowledge has held any investigations and never prosecuted any terrorists. So save the hollow moral indignation. The fact is Israel could never satisfy you or any of the anti-Israel writers on these boards.
The intention is to include on the panel Israeli jurists with international standing and perhaps also an international jurist. One name that has been mentioned in discussions is Prof. Alan M. Dershowitz. Who's fooling who? Mr. Dershowitz does not have international standing and his opinion is anything but objective. Why pay his expenses to come to Israel to judge the facts of this case? Don't waste your shekels...have him mail in his opinion since we already know what it will say.
As Obama mentioned, Israel adopts suggestions way too late. But let's look beyond that. The entire concept behind the inquiry proposed in the Goldstone report is to hold those responsible for war crimes accountable, thus discouraging future occurrences. Israel is all in favor of holding Hamas' feet to the fire. But it is disingenous for Israel to say we will make an inquiry, but only to the extent that no military people are held responsible. Such hypocrisy is just one reason why Israel lost my support, and continues to lose support in the US. Grow up, and learn to see how the world views you. You could use a few more friends.
don't hold your breath...what's hamas going to say? "yes, we used human shields, yes, we booby trapped civilians homes, yes, we placed children on roofs as shields to the houses below hiding weapons and fighters, yes, we used mosques, UN buildings, schools, hospitals and ambulances as cover for weapons and fighters...yes, we who led hamas hid underground while we allowed the people who we represent to take the fall for the cameras"... give me a break. Not one of you idiots who ceaselessly bash israel would stand for one rocket hitting ANYWHERE in your country. Israel was MORE than patient...MORE than fair...gaza was rightfully taken in 1967 defensive war and stupid pals said no to recognition of israel so they remained occupied until israel generously gave it back because the "WORLD" wanted them to..and look what happened..for once, will you jew haters take off your jew hating hats and call things fairly?
Can't question soldiers, officers and operational commanders? What's the point? The upper ranks among generals and politicians are the ones willing and even eager to hide the truth. We want to hear from the soldiers themselves. Oh and how highly objective and independent, bringing in a bigoted name like Alan Dershowitz!! Quite depressing and amusing at once
We have all seen Israeli whitewashes before. Israel holds out on "self reflection" until the pressure becomes too great, and when they comply, it is with little grace. The result is always the same. Israel is guiltless. All actions were justified. Any human rights issues lie with Israels enemies. This is the "See what you made me do" defense. It is popular among elementary school children and Israel.
"It would hear testimony from the country's political and military leaders as well as the IDF investigators who conducted probes into incidents that occurred during Operation Cast Lead but would not be authorized to question officers and soldiers who took part in the Gaza incursion." What part of independent dont you get. Still trying to hide what we all know happened---and saw on our TV screens. See you at the hague. Is it a war crime to aid and abet those who comitted war crimes by offering them assistance.
According to Israeli Minister Yuri Edelstein, interviewed by Israel Radio this morning at the UN in New York, no such internal probe is being considered. The content of this article is nothing more than speculation.