Authors of IDF ethics code demand Gaza war probe
Avi Sagi: Israel must examine some Gaza incidents even if it chooses to reject Goldstone report.
By Amos Harel Tags: Goldstone report Israel news IDFTwo academics who authored the military's ethical code are now calling on Israel to investigate some of the claims raised in the Goldstone report over its military offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter. While the scholars level harsh criticism at the report, they believe there is no alternative to probing several specific conclusions contained in it.
Prof. Moshe Halbertal and Prof. Avi Sagi were two of the authors of the "Spirit of the IDF," a military code of conduct released in 1992.
Last week Halbertal authored an article entitled "The Goldstone Illusion" in U.S. news magazine The New Republic, and Sagi posted an article on the Web site of Jerusalem's Shalom Hartman Institute. Both pieces called on Israel to examine some of the findings of the report, flawed though they believe it is.
Halbertal's article described the Goldstone report's objective as "to prepare a general indictment of Israel as a predatory state that is geared toward violating human rights all the time."
Nonetheless, Halbertal wrote that Israel should respond to the report and present the guidelines by which it waged Operation Cast Lead. Israel, he wrote, must conduct an investigation that would restore perceptions of the legitimacy of its right to self-defense.
Among the report's claims which he believes merit an Israeli response are those of troops opening fire on a Palestinian mother and daughter carrying white flags, the destruction of homes in the conflict's final days, and harming civilian infrastructure such as power stations and water facilities.
In his article, Sagi wrote that the "Spirit of the IDF" sets a high bar for troops' conduct, requiring soldiers to do everything in their power to avoid harming unarmed individuals.
Sagi stated that even if Israel rejects the Goldstone report as a distortion of justice, "the question remains over whether in fact IDF troops operated everywhere as required, according to the values to which they are committed."
"I'm certain that no one instructed an IDF soldier to harm civilians," he wrote, adding: "In my heart there is a deep suspicion that in some of the military operations, soldiers and commanders did not adopt the highest [ethical] standard, and did not do everything in their power to avoid harming unarmed individuals."
Sagi added that he is concerned that the primary investigation into the Gaza conflict is being conducted within the legal system. The law, he wrote, sets a minimal standard for behavior, and everything below that standard is considered criminal. He wrote, however, that even some military behavior sanctioned by law can lead to an ethical "slippery slope."
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Jimmy boy, how do we know they are lies if we don't conduct a credible enquiry?
Just because the Goldstone report put lies into print, doesn't mean that anything in there is true and deserves to be addressed.
PETER. What is under discussion are the events during the recent GAZA engagement; the possible abuses that occurred; and the remedies that should be put in place (presumably to prevent a re-occurrence). It is of scant interest to me wether the abuses were committed by Hamas, by the IDF, or by both of them. That is as far as my principles spread with regards this discussion. The others issues that you mention can be addressed at another time (and in another discussion). The "advice" - as you put it, is directed towards both Israel and Hamas, and not confined to Israel. Rightly or wrongly we have come to expect some semblance of integrity from Israel that we might not wish to extend to the other parties involved in the conflict. It is beyond belief that Israel and its apologists choose to ignore the abuses that have been alleged in Goldstone's report (be they well founded or otherwise) and persist in shooting the messenger. If no abuses took place there is nothing to be afraid of.
PETER, what on earth has given you that idea? I think that if you actually READ the report you would see that it is alleged that Hamas (or activists that Hamas should presumably controlled) fired unguided missiles into Israel which terrorised the local population. That is wrong and the report says so. This needs to be investigated with a credible enquiry, and if Hamas wont do this the ICC will - that is if the US, Russia, UK, China or France don't let them off the hook by their veto in the Security Council. Oh and please explain your "PC brigade" remark. Do you mean that anybody who is disconcerted by human suffering (Israeli or Palestinian) and by official neglect or abuse is somehow PC?
Why is it so? Is it because ideologically the PC brigade cannot get themselves to admit their beloved proletariat can ever do even one tiny little thing wrong.
The ICC of course ... that is if the US, UK, France, China, or Russia do not let Hamas off the hook by their veto in the Security Council. READ THE GOLDSTONE REPORT? If the parties do not conduct credible investigations within 6 months, the Security Council will refer the matter to the ICC. What more could one want?
Maybe you can spread your priciples further afield to Israels neighbours,it seems Israel has no shortage of advice while there is a veritable drought of any moralists setting the neighbours straight. Why is it so?
"The Goldstone Report as a whole is a terrible document. It is biased and unfair. It offers no help in sorting out the real issues. What methods can Israel--and other countries in similar situations--legitimately apply in the defense of their citizens? To create standards of morality in war that leave a state without the means of legitimate self-protection is politically foolish and morally problematic; but real answers to these real problems cannot be found in the Goldstone Report. What should Israel do when Hezbollah?s more lethal and accurate missiles strike the center of Tel Aviv, causing hundreds of civilian deaths? It is a well-known fact that these missiles are in Hezbollah?s possession, and, when they are fired, it will be from populated villages in Lebanon".-Harbetal
for a second in the limelight-even if they'd perish together with their state as a result.
There is absolutely no doubt that Israel must prove it has done a complete and independent legal investigation into all allegations. This has been obvious from the start and had Livni or Olmert been PM, most likely it would have been done. The real issue is who will provide an independent legal investigation of allegations against Hamas? Terrorists are by definition not law abiding. Will Jordan or Egypt appoint a judicial commission to look at Hamas?
The natural reaction to a credible accusation of wrongdoing is to refute the claim. This is not done by shooting the messenger but by demonstrating that the claim was false. This is what credible democracies do. And if the claim appears to be credible, the credible democracy brings the perpetrators before a credible court of law. That Israel and it's apologists seem to have elected to shoot the messenger is not only unbelievable but is doing incalculable harm to Israel's image as a 1st World democracy. Israel has a clear obligation to do the right thing to remove the cloud of doubt that is rapidly gaining momentum. Only a fool can imagine that the whole problem will just go away. If individual members of the IDF disobeyed orders they should be charged; if IDF commanders or senior IDF staff members disobeyed orders they should be charged; and if the political masters of the IDF gave inappropriate directions they should be charged. It's the right thing to do.
The Goldstone report is not just full of flaws. It was ill concived. Or better said , concieved in order to strip Israel, or any democracy of the means to defend itself. However, there are certain things that must be investigated as Sagi and Halbertal have noted. Never in my military service I have received orders to shoot against civil population. Morever, the opposite is right. Orders were always to try to do what we can in order to not injure civil population. In this case of Gaza, the orders were to shoot to the spots you were fire from. That is a correct and moral order. That is very different from an order to shoot against women with white flag or against a school that no shooting has come from it. There should be no slippery slope from one thing to the other, and this should be investigated.
Says a lot about the allegations of IDF war crimes in Gaza, and it's somewhat of an understatement by Avi Sagi when he declares "In my heart there is a deep suspicion that in some of the military operations, soldiers and commanders did not adopt the highest [ethical] standard, and did not do everything in their power to avoid harming unarmed individuals."