Leftist Israeli intellectuals demand new Gaza war probe

Leading left-wing Israeli intellectuals signed a petition Wednesday demanding the government to allow an independent, external investigation into last winter's Gaza war.

The signatories included authors David Grossman and Amos Oz, as well as outspoken former lawmaker Yossi Sarid of the left-liberal Meretz party and 25 academics, actors, musicians and public figures.

The petition came after 30 Israeli soldiers last week said the Israel Defense Force had lenient open-fire policies, used white phosphorous smoke bombs in populated areas, and forced Palestinian civilians to act as "human shields" during the 22-day offensive.

They made the statements in anonymous testimonies to an Israeli anti-occupation organization, Breaking the Silence.

Soldiers used Palestinian civilians, often neighbors, to knock on doors and check houses in which Palestinian gunmen were believed holed up, a practice known in the past as the "neighbor procedure" and deemed illegal by Israel's highest court, said the group's report.

"We, citizens of the State of Israel, whose army is the IDF, demand to know the truth regarding the fighting carried out in our names, our money and at the price of danger to the lives of our loved ones," said the text of the petition.

"The military strength of Israel is meant to protect not just the lives of Israelis but also the Israeli way of life, of value to all parts of our society," it said.

The petition charged the testimonies by the 30 soldiers made the Israeli military's official stance, which said it had found not a single case in which soldiers deliberately harmed Palestinian civilians, appear "detached from reality."

Israel has refused to cooperate with the international investigation led by South African war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, saying his mission was mandated by the UN's Human Rights Council, which it charges is biased against it.