Livni: Goldstone probe based on 'perverted system of values'

Having served fighting for the land people and livestock of Israel which includes Gaza you may want to refrain from attacking the Israel military on it's own soil.When that region was overrun we as a force found perpetrators of another nations inclinded force upon our land. Encropping upon the soil rights of Israel they fired rockets hurting Israeli civilians on both sides.Who sent those people into our nation to cause a civil war. Who from the past is still fighting to hurt both sides of Israel the Palestinian side and the Jew side.Who wants the land rights of Israel.Is to Goldstone a South African judge with full question Negrodiac of hate of dark colorization ro caucasian national of hate.Which did he do fairley.Livni is right of this standing.There is false to this report but we do not see eye to eye.Having read the report still the USA sent mercenaries by a Senator only and the private mercenaries used by Saudi Arabia with Al Queda links needs to be addressed.Rankoo-Karoon

by a team of experts to sift distortion from fact and reality. The problem is that the report is treated by many as though it is the truth and nothing but the truth. The fact is that Goldstone has turned politician and handed out judgements based on politics. He has and continues to deny the context: Israel was attacked and had rights to respond to protect its citizens. It will not be difficult to challenge Goldstone. Up to now, the interviewers on TV have given him an easy ride, with no tough challenges put to him. He tries to throw legalese in response to questions put to him. He tells untruths, which must be unravelled and challenged, point by point. He has made some devastating errors in judgement. He MUST be held accountable.

Is this the same Livni who was so anxious to prove to Israelites that she could 'pull the trigger'? The result was a civilian catastrophe for Gaza! Anti-life cannot be pro-life!

This would be comical if it weren't for so many lives that were shattered. The ever twisting logic trying to hide an open racial driven revenge policy and its result. The show trials to come I'm sure will have worthy comparisons of doublespeak. Nothing to be proud of... and surely not 'values'.

Israel was founded on the belief that this piece of land was given to them by THEIR God as his chosen people and that they above all others have the right to claim superiority. It is who alone are granted citizenship under the law of return and Palestinians do NOT have that right, even though they had owned the land prior. So a Jew anywhere has the right to citizenship in Israel, while Palestinians are enslaved in the West Bank and Gaza, their every move controlled, their water stolen, their lives threatened, all so you Jews from WHEREVER can go there and claim your gift from your God. That Tzipi Livni, is the true "Perverted sytem of values"

"There is no other army in the world that investigates itself the way the IDF does."

You could have volunteered for action, taken your chances, and possibly could have been #4 The idea is to kill more of the other side than he kills of your side 1400, is that the Jenin count again??

You are your tormentors. You are tormentors of Israelies and the fact that they fight back and maime and kill you is a torment you have invited and deserve. Israelies left Gaza peacefully. What is the next logical step, one that is likely to reduce rather than increase violence. You guys are so full of crap that its wonder it isn't seeting out of every orifice.

why is Goldstone completely unjudicial. Let's assume, just for the sake of argument, that there is basis for Goldstone's suggestion that Israeli soldiers "may" have used "disproportionate force & not protected civilians sufficiently". This tenative conclusion requires Goldstone to take one more step. He has to find that there was an effective alternative for Israeli forces that would get at the root of the attacks on Israeli civilians. Afterall, even Goldstone, who strikes me to be extraordinarily unjudicial, wouldn't suggest that Israel had to sacrifice its civilians for those of the aggressor. As to Goldstone's unjudicial conduct, he is now saying that he wrote his own mandate after discovering that the mandate that was initially given to him was completely one sided. So, my question is what judge with integrity is willing to work for a master whom he knows is unfair, completely one sided. The answer of course is no judge but Goldstone was ready, willing & well, not that able

The Goldstone report cites Yishai, and for good reason, saying "we should bombard thousands of houses in Gaza, destroy Gaza. As simple as that." If a deputy prime minister talks like that, and nobody thinks of firing him for incitement to war crimes, why should we think the IDF did not act in his spirit? http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1123308.html

Since when does the presence of civilians mean that a nation is barred from defending itself? Where are your (crocodile) tears for the deaths of innocent civilians during W.W.I, W.W.II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Iraq Wars (I & II), Afghanstan, etc., etc.? I'll tell you where...Nowhere! Like all of the other fraudulent humanitarians on this site, you care nothing about the poor, poor, peaceful, starving, downtrodden children of Gaza. You only care that a few had to die at the hands of Jews who had tired of 7,500 rockets and mortars during 2008 alone. B.T.W, as for your perpetual lies about the lack of Cast Lead's effectiveness, there have only been a few hundred rocket/mortar attacks since the end of Cast Lead....approximately 90% reduction in numbers compared with the first 10 months of 2008....An overwhelming success!!!

this woman was a journalist, no lashes would have been given to her in any other country apart from dictatorial ones. She was doing her job, not sending Quassams into civilian areas, so no your argument is wrong.

Just make the kind of vapid and malignant statements that come out of the mouths of Israel politicians. Don't these people care how much damage they do to their nation?

Now that is a perverted system of values.

You feel at home now?

The report at NO time takes in to account what precipitated the war! Had the same logic been used for WWII, it would have been Eisenhower and Churchill on trial at Nuremberg for genocide! Jones, BHO, and Bush would be on trial at the ICC for the US attacks on al Qaeda since 9/11 would NEVER be discussed! and MacCarthur would have been hung in Tokyo for the Atom Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki since the Japanese genocide against China, SE Asia, and the Philippines would be verbotten! For once, you agree with us that the Goldstone "Report" is naught but a sham!

Holds zero credibility with decent people.

According to Col. Richard Kemp, the former commander of British forces in Afghanistan and an expert on warfare, the IDF "did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in Gaza than any other army in the history of warfare" (New York Times, Bernstein op ed, 10/19/09). Haaretz has documented the extensive IDF efforts at reducing civilian casualties in Gaza generally while going after enemy combatants (12/30/2007), and the ratio of combatants to civilians killed by Israel in comparable settings is better than the US, Great Britain, or Russia. Do I think this means we should ignore Goldstone or dismiss it? No, but I think you and others need to learn to put aside your prejudices to look at two sides.

"Should a sovereign nation stand by and turn the other cheek when Hamas launches over 7000 missiles,Quassams, morters against Israels people and then cry foul when Israel finally says enough is enough." No. But of course, that wasn't what the report was about.

"Israel targeted civilian infrastructuress such as greenhouses, water supply depots, flour milling plants amongst others including UN warehouses". Guess why???

Must be out on bail. Hope your daughter is OK! http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/10/attempted-honor-killing-in-arizona-muslim-runs-down-daughter-for-becoming-too-westernized.html

'Tzipi Livni said that the Goldstone Commission's report into Israel's offensive on the Gaza Strip was "based on a perverted system of values."' Actually Ms Livni, the "perverted system of values" is the one that: kills hundreds of Gazan civilians; uses white phosphorus in densely populated areas; maintains a policy of collective punishment against the Gazan survivors; and then seeks to brush off these war crimes as legitimate warfare. See you in the Hague.

Values like the right to life, and equality before the law? Perverted indeed.

Would that be a "perverted system of values?" If not, then why would Jews complain? Nothing wrong with "defending" yourself, Jewish style. Salaam/Shalom

rules of engagement.Cant you just see the Military legal eagles being hoisted high by Brak and the people who caried out these crimes against humanity and who would have thought that Jews would be at the delivery end of such crimes. Here are some of the GOI rules of engagement. "The IDF?s emphasis on compliance with the Law of Armed Conflict was also directly incorporated into the rules of engagement for the Gaza Operation. The operational order for the Operation in Gaza specifically stated that ?[a]ll IDF activities are subject to the principles and rules of international law.? These rules and principles were further detailed in the order, which emphasised four guiding principles that applied in an integrated and cumulative manner: military necessity, distinction, proportionality and humanity: 1,Military Necessity: ?An attack shall be permitted as long as it is necessary to achieve a military purpose in the course of the military campaign,? subject to the other principles and rules set forth. Israel failed this basic principle when Women carrying white flags were shot. 2,Distinction: ?Strikes shall be directed against military objectives and combatants only. It is absolutely prohibited to intentionally strike civilians or civilian objects (in contrast to incidental proportional harm).? Israel failed again when it attacked and bombed two hundred Police recruits. 3, Proportionality: ?A legitimate military objective may be attacked even if the strike would cause incidental harm to civilians or civilian objectives, provided that the expected harm to civilians or civilian objects, or a combination thereof, would not be excessive in relation to the military advantage anticipated.? Israel again failed when it murdered 21(or was it 26) members of the same family who they(IDF) had herded into a house and bombed it to hell.They must have known those people were there.The Goldstone report concluded that no miliatry advantage was gained through this act of pure barbarism. 4, Humanity: ?When legitimate military target is attacked, superfluous suffering to enemy combatants shall be avoided. In this context, only legal weapons, which were approved by the relevant authorities within the IDF, shall be employed.? In this case illegal weapons --IE White Phospherous was used in ammounts and in areas that are far and away from excusable. Funny thing is that it will be Israel,s own Rules of Engagement that will hang them.

but we do know there are strong grounds for believing them to be true. Israel has quite a bit of history when it comes to collective punishment of civilian populations. Having just finished reading Lieutenant Colonel Dov Yermiya's account of the June 1982 so called 'Grapes of Wrath' invasion of Lebanon, {My War Diary}one is struck by some of the parallels with subsequent conflicts, including Cast Lead. There is the vile racism of many of the commanding officers, the utter disregard for humanitarian concerns despite evidence of the seriousness of the civilian situation. The principal of token humanitarian gestures for the benefit of the media corps whilst on the ground massive abuses including torture and unlawful killings were endemic. The ex post facto justification for military action. The arrogance and defiance of those who were guilty of all these crimes. Then the calumny directed at those who expose the tattered facade that Israel attempts to draw around the whole obscenity. The main difference today is that the racism is more widespread, the internal criticism more easily suffocated and subsumed under the rubric of loyalty above decency. As for this 'No other army investigates itself the way the IDF does'. Trite rubbish. Both the UK and US have pursued individuals involved in abuses under military cover through the courts in the full glare of publicity, though arguably not often enough. Israels record on self investigation regarding such abuses is woeful. Whether investigating the deaths of foreign volunteers, cameramen [Tom Hurndall, James Miller] or Palestinian children[ eg.Iman al-Hams] in the O.Ts they have established a reputation for whitewashing and stonewalling more comparable with central American banana dictatorships.

Why did both Moyers and Goldstone ONLY speak of Israel? Why no mention of Hamas and their 7500 rockets fired on Israelis civilians? Why no mention of the Negev civilians who DID testify to Goldstone's "commission" but had their statements censored from the final report? Perhaps you should listen to Moyers' Jan 9 commentary calling Jews "genetically coded towards violence." The Moyers solution? http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/10/25/iraq.violence/index.html

is certainly not "worth the paper it`s written on" "Should a sovereign nation stand by and turn the other cheek when Hamas launches over 7000 missiles,Quassams, morters against Israels people" Shepherd Only Israel never did stand by. Unless you call the killing of over a thousand civilians BEFORE Cast Lead 'standing by'! Civilians killed by way of thousands of tank and artillery shells along with countless F-16 and pilot-less drone attacks as well as commando raids and naval launched attacks, over a 7 year period. Stop telling tales.

was based on a perverted set of values.

Watched the show last night and I now have even more admiration and respect for this man. Shame on those who demonize this tremendous human being.

"I expect the international community to distinguish between murder and unintentional killing," Livni said The Goldstone report certainly helps the international community to understand the difference. Read for example from the report "XI. DELIBERATE ATTACKS AGAINST THE CIVILIAN POPULATION" starting at #702.

Should a sovereign nation stand by and turn the other cheek when Hamas launches over 7000 missiles,Quassams, morters against Israels people and then cry foul when Israel finally says enough is enough. The world should be putting hamas on trila for what it is a Terrorist group that is sponsored by Iran. Its time to call it for what it is.

The Israeli teaches the following to its young soldiers......im yesh safek ...ein safek. ie if there is a doubt then there is no doubt. So according to this ,lets go ahead and investigate at least for ourselves.

You wrote: The problem is that the allegations are true. What's more, everyone knows perfectly well that they are true. Great argument, Colin.

"no other army investigates itself the way the IDF does" If you have energy to read, read the IDF report "THE OPERATION IN GAZA: FACTUAL AND LEGAL ASPECTS". Look for example at #336-#340. The Fahoura School incident. compare it with the Goldstone report. In the IDF report even the number of killed are not mentioned mentioned. I think an independent investigation is required.

"Inquiry of what ,defending itself against murderers?" No. You don't seem to understand at all. Countries are allowed to defend themselves against murderers. The report was not about self defense, but war crimes.

sorry, chris, but there's some limit to how for you can stretch an argument trying to nail someone as being responsible, in this case netanyahu. bibi wasn't in charge, not a part of the decision-making process, so he can't be held responsible. period. keep in mind also that the deliberations & preparations over whether, when etc to go into gaza in a major operation were made over a long period of time. it wasn't something done ad hoc to fit w/elections. one thing is sure, it was coming as sure as hell & a ticking bomb, & whatever the timing it would've made people speculate. bibi wasn't in the cabinet any of those recent years. to make a link of responsibility w/reg. to bibi's objection to kuntar's release & lebanon 2 is another far-out claim that holds no water. the only one causing that war was nasrallah who'd have found plenty of other ways to provoke something of that magnitude /worse. & doing it "for kuntar", ostensibly, was just as illegitimate & bad as anything else.

I am so tired of seeing Israel put on some golden pedistool as if we alone have to answer to some kind of higher standard that no other country is asked to hold to. This is getting out of control and completely ridiculous. Of ALL the Nations in the world in some conflict where you can count on civilian casuatlies, we alone are singled out like this, we alone are asked to not shoot terrorists who hide behind women while shooting rockets at us. we alone are asked to sacrifice our deterance for the terrorists who have figured out how to even win when they lose. Oh i know the Jew of world must be scapegoated just like we have always been , but i am really getting tired of it. I mean everyone screaming about us in Gaza, if we hadnt been so careful do you know how many would really be dead, but instead we are accused of the exact opposite. Goldstone = terrorists know that human shields are their "get of Jail Free" card, ALBIET ONLY WITH REGARD TO ISRAEL

...and probably also a host of aspiring-PMs... ...that one gets quite disorientated about the relegation of government authority in general...

- stephen, between claims of what the IDF "targeted", say where civilians were involved, & what really may have occured? i take it the situation on the ground is often too complex & fluid to be able in the aftermath to determine why a certain order was given /action taken. in particualr, some of the objections against the report have been the overwhelming reliance on investigation as well as claims already made by NGOs. such as HRW (where goldstone previously was board member) etc. if that is so, what does that tell you? finally, i haven't read the full report & commend anyone for taking the time & effort to do it. just think critical questions should be asked from any angle.

Faced with the simple 'request' to hold an independent judicial inquiry, the cabinet meeting seems to have turned into an American football match, with everyone running about, shouting and trying to block each other. Hold the inquiry says one. Don't do anything says another. Get the IDF to do their own inquiry says a third. No don't, says a fourth, publish the war cabinet minutes. I've got a better wheeze says Rabbit but is promptly interrupted... Don't listen to rabbit, listen to ME! says a sixth. Call them to order, Mr Prime Minister! Err... he can't, he still hasn't made his mind up because he's not worked out which is going to be the winning side. Israel has no choice but to comply with the request or get itself in a serious can of worms. All these ministers with their tricky ideas to beat the rap don't appear to get it, the best form of damage limitation is to do what Israel has been asked to do. That way, at least Israelis control the inquiry, rather than judges at the ICC.

... not thrown-onto-the-rubbish-heap as Barak insists... ... whenever Barak is particularly over-bearing, as in this case, it's a sure sign that something is seriously amiss...

I realise that it probably wasn't Bibi on the grassy knoll in Dallas shooting JFK. But generally Bibi's responsible for quite a lot of bad stuff. For a start he's respsonsible for bring people like Yishai, Atias and Lieberman from the nutty extremes to the heart of Israel's government. Isn't that bad enoough?

Of course Barak will oppose any internal inquiry, his own ass is on the line, he was the defense minister during the war on Gaza. In fact, a whitewash internal inquiry will get him off the hook because should war crimes tribunals materialize, his name will be on top of the list.

That is the impression I got, and the conclusion I have come to is the IDF and their command only invisaged a short operation a week at the longest. Olmert, Livni and Barak overrode the military when they saw their poll ratings rising, the longer the war went on the higher they went in the polls. As a direct consequence of this the IDF ran out of targets which seriously degraded HAMAS's ability to fire rockets at Israel and then started destroying secondary targets which were of dual use, or targets which increased the risk to the population of Gaza. It was during this secondary phase of Cast Lead that the crimes Israel is accused off occured. Where the lack of facitlities for prisoners who were only going to be held for hours but instead were held for days for instance.

We will hear many suggestions how to avoid implementing the demands of investigating the "possible crimes against humanity" that the Israelis are accused of. 400 children massacred in 21 days, that is 20 slaughtered children a day, we can already hear what was said in the cabinette meetings:"We have become our former tormentors". We will now look forward to more squirming from the occupiers and fresh ideas.

Netanyahu was not in Government when he objected to the release of Kuntar thus making Israel renege on an agreement which lead to the release of Tannenbaum. Which indirectly caused Lebanon2. So you are seriously asking me to believe that Netanyahu took absolutely no part whatsoever in the decision making process which lead to the Israeli political elite pressing the go button for the Middle East's most powerful army to enter one of the worlds most crowded area inhabited by a population of mostly children and stay there until 1400 Palestinians of which between 300 and 400 were children were dead, one month before the Israeli General Elections? Israel will investigate in a clear and transparent manner within the next 100 days. What Israel is doing at the moment is playing for time hoping Iran stuffs up and Planet Earth's attention is distracted from the Goldstone Report.

Publishing the minutes from the meeting that organised Operation Cast Lead. It will at least get him and Netanyahu off the hook. However the Goldstone Report lists a number of incidents perpertrated both by Hamas and the IDF which he requests are investigated further. For some reason Askhenazi and Barak are vehementely opposed to this. In fact more pertinant than the minutes of the meeting would be the publication of the rules of engagement that were given to the Commanders of the IDF prior to the commencement of Operation Cast Lead. Those orders would determine if the Israeli ruling elite were in the clear or not. Like when Guderian refused to pass on the Commisar Order to his subordinates saved him from the death penalty.

like so many of the braindead they dont look back at home before posting garbage ! thabiet writing from the murder capital of the world !

The UK and the US have both investigated atrocities committed by their forces in Iraq and convicted and punished the people involved.

I have read the entire report. My first conclusion. Israel made the mistake of not co-operating in said investigation. Israel targeted civilian infrastructures such as greenhouses,water supply depots,flour milling plants amongst others including UN warehouses. Hamas and others must also be held fully responsible for their targeting of Israeli villages, towns or cities. For they also intended to kill as many Israeli citizens with their 8.000 plus missiles. This madness has to stop. An inquiry by the IDF should be held, not for the public perusal, rather that in the future, steps should be taken in order to limit excesses. As a veteran of the IDF, I am appalled, yet in my time, we only fought real armies, which we fought with honor and dignity somewhat different to todays battles, such as we have witnessed. In conclusion, todays fight against terrorism has changed the rules of engagement. Iraq,Afghanistan,Pakistan,Chechnya and SriLanka do come to mind.

The mantra "there is no other army in the world that investigates itself the way the IDF does" can be interpreted in two ways, positive or negative. I just wonder what he really meant!

How can you say Bibi was responsible for the war when he didn't take over until April. The previous govt also rejected an investigation. I am so tired of bibi being blamed for stuff when he wasn't even in power.

We Jews have to fit into it. I think most Arabs and Muslims nowadays want to be businessmen. I think the World Economy became so crappy that everybody wants to be a businessman or businesswoman, so they can earn back all the crap we just lost. So anyway, for now, behave like businessmen and stop beating the crap out of each other. Hey the World is watching. Smile!

"the Israel Defense Forces operates on the battlefield in the most ethical way. It is an army that investigates and examines itself in the most thorough way, more than any other army in the world." Playing on nationalistic feelings in this way is so predictable, nationalists everywhere do it. "Our institution X is the best/most democratic/most effective/ etc". It is always the same thing: this country is the best in the world, no there's no need to think about it. I don't suppose either men felt that they had any facts which could back up their statements? The wording that both men choose is interesting though. They both say that the IDF is the best at investigating itself, thereby automatically excluding all armies that are not allowed to investigate themselves. To me it seems pretty easy to call yourself moral if you are the one who investigates whether you are moral or not.

As you wrote "the best way to defuse this issue is to speak the truth" Barak has not proved to be a leader of any moral nor stature. He is only interested in fulfilling his own needs as has been reported in Ha'artez previously. It is time that he was dismissed. Israel needs this inquiry to maintain some level of respectability.

"Here is why Israel is so deathly afraid..." As obsessed and as much of a whiney nag as you are about Israel, it's clear that you are the one who is afraid and project your fears. Can't you find more of a life than to harp so pettily about Israel? Such a great percentage of your time spent as a harpy. What a waste.

wouldn't you agree?

Why did IDF marksmen shoot to kill so many young children ... many of them at close range ? The convenient IDF response is that Hamas was using them as human shields but - 1400 palistinians vs 3 israelis killed - how on earth can iDF logically argue that they killed so many children in order to get to hamas ? As an occupying force the IDF has a duty to to be circumspect about using certain weapons in a civilian situation. If you have 3 bank robbers holding 20 hostages in a ' human shield situation ' then you cannot simply suggest that you had to kill all the hostages in order to get to the bank robbers !! It is necessary for Israel to probe these atrocities committed by the IDF in order to quell international outrage because many people , including myself, are questioning the moral integrity of Israel as a Jewish state and wonder why is it that people of such a great religion can justify these murders.

... that says it all...

The PM would be utterly wrong to conduct an enquiry based on Cast Lead allegations. This would be his first and very serious mistake if he did

Any country who engages in war of any sort commits atrocities. Any country (or group that operates as Hamas, Al Quida, Hezbollah ) does the same. For Israel to claim that we are an army that investigate ourselves more than any other army in the world, is not based on research but just big brother (BiBi) filling a sound byte. Each future conflict will put us into that big boat (for all of us). Pass the pitch, the waves are getting choppy.

...except there is no mention of Saudi Arabia in this article. Do you really think comparing Israel to other human rights abusers is a productive use of your time? I mean, all it really does is is highlight how Israel is exactly like all those other despotic countries... Is that really the effect you are going for?

The problem isn't that the allegations in the Goldstone Report are false. If that were the case, Israel would have a gilt-edged opportunity to discredit her critics. The problem is that the allegations are true. What's more, everyone knows perfectly well that they are true.

classic situation. denial, repression, passing the buck, stonewalling. obviously both Barak and Ashkenazi, along with Bibi bare ultimate responsiblity for the war, and they should manfully address the issues. Whether their directives, or those of lower commanders were criminal needs to be determined and responsiblity apportioned for our own moral edification and the future. Why were forbidden munitions used? Why were Palestinian famillies held captive in their own homes? Vandalism and theft is common, and usually the common soldier and a negligent officer is to blame. Get it all out in the open. The overriding consideration is that Hamas is guilty of rocketting civilians, the war was meant to stop that and largely did, so it was success, and the criminal acts were unnecessary and should now be accounted for truthfully.

Israel must undertake an honest investigation of its behavior during the attacks on Gaza, or else face the international courts of justice in the Hague (where it will certainly lose)

...and the IDF's use of human shields and the subsequent unfounded allegation that Palestinian militants do the same has become rather tiring given that it's been ruled on long ago by the Israeli High Court. Give it up because time's up.

The cabinet has 143 days in which to come to a decision. Can they do it before the clock runs out?

Just do the right thing. The Knesset, not the IDF, should investigate the 36 incidents in the Goldstone Report and figure out how to prevent civilian massacres in the future. The Palestinians must do something similar regarding Qassam rocket attacks, which could conclude with the formal rejection of attacks on Israeli civilians.

I wonder if their will be an inquiry against Saudia Arabia for allowing a judge to sentence a lady journalist to 60 lashes and if so whether this will be found to be a crime against a human?

isn't it interesting that the two who KNOW what idf troops were briefed before entering gaza, are vehemently opposing any independent inquiry? the line about not wanting an inquiry to cast doubts on the idf officers who conducted the so-called "investigation of itself" by the idf just doesn't hold water; unless there ARE doubts to be cast. one can understand their position were it to be an inquiry from outside israel; but why would they fear an investigation launched by israel, whose bias would tend to favor the idf? i'll venture that people are getting mighty curious right about now... lol...there's little red flags popping up everywhere, it seems.

...the fact is, during the period that Israel claims it was under relentless attack from Gaza rockets, they were responding in kind with many many many more thousands of rockets and mortars The Entire Time, without fail. Tit for massive tat, and never could it be vice versa. Hamas or any other Palestinian militant group has NEVER had the capability of posing an existential threat to Israel. It's always been an illusion, one defined even more by Sharon's ill-fated unilateral Gaza "disengagement" that was tailor made to come to this result. That pesky unforeseen consequences got in the way again. Darn that historical record.

Just a few weeks ago, Barak was trying to stab Netanyahu in the back. Now Netanyahu seems to have realized it is not necessary to stab Barak in the back. One need only open an honest investigation of Cast Lead and, Netanyahu, the leader of the opposition, is not in the cross hairs, but the Defense Minister of the Olmert government is. In a den of vipers, and there is nothing else involved, the viper who would survive the investigation is not Ehud Barak.

The probe is irrelevant. Barak is right on this issue. The government should be defending the IDF in its defense of the nation against its enemies.

The matter will die in the Security Council because none of major powers are prepared to face the implications for themselves should the case go to the ICC. Israel is innocent but the USA, Britain, China and Russia aren't.

if natanyahu were smart he would throw livni, barak, ashkenazi, and olmert to the goldstone lions

Inquiry of what ,defending itself against murderers?

For those who are interested in more on Goldstone,I highly recommend this interview: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10232009/watch.html