IDF chief refuses to rule out Israeli probe into Gaza op

BERLIN - IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi broke his silence yesterday about discussions that are being held on the possible establishment of a committee of inquiry into Operation Cast Lead, during his first official visit to Germany.

"At this time all possibilities are being evaluated and the Israel Defense Forces are taking part in the discussions," Ashkenazi told reporters. "I assume that the prime minister and the government of Israel will make the right decision."

The chief of staff refused to say whether the IDF is opposed to the establishment of a committee, but made it clear that "prior to the Goldstone report the army did carry out an investigation and continues to investigate itself."

Ashkenazi said that it is not only the IDF that is at the center of the report's accusations of war crimes, but also the Israeli government.

"These are absurd accusations," Ashkenazi said. "The government is right to examine the matter seriously - the Goldstone report must be countered."

Ashkenazi, whose father is a Holocaust survivor, visited the villa at Wannsee where senior Nazi figures met in 1942 to formulate the "final solution."

Ashkenazi was accompanied by his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schneiderhan.

At the site, Ashkenazi stopped by a map of Bulgaria and pointed to the city of Plovdiv, where his father had been born. The director of the site said that the Bulgarian parliament and some Bulgarians objected to the intentions of their Nazi allies to murder the Jewish community there.

"This is the reason I am here today," Ashkenazi said.

Ashkenazi gave the director of the site a photograph depicting a flight of Israel Air Force jets over Auschwitz, an enlarged copy of which hangs in his office in Tel Aviv. He also participated in a memorial ceremony for the victims of the Holocaust in the western part of the city.

Ashkenazi stressed in his speech "the commitment to remember forever the worst horror in human history, and to ensure that we shall never bow our head to those planning to harm us, that we will never lay our security in the hands of strangers, and we will not allow anyone control the future of the people of Israel."

The chief of staff will finish his visit to Germany tomorrow.