Should Israel investigate Gaza War?

Yes, Israel should probe Operation Cast Lead. However, it is not likely that any probe will be satisfactory to Judge Goldstone unless it condemns the entire Israeli general staff to hang. Any other verdict will be considered a white wash.

 

Last update - 05:12 30/09/2009       
College head: Israel should probe Gaza war before it's forced to
By Ofri Ilani

 

If Israel does not investigate its most recent military operation in Gaza, it will be forced to do so by the international community, Prof. Uriel Reichman, president of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, said yesterday.

 

"A commission headed by a Supreme Court justice must immediately be established to examine Operation Cast Lead. And although the [Goldstone] report is very much not fair and borders on incitement, it also raises questions regarding our actions in Gaza," Reichman said.

 

Reichman called for a probe in a joint statement with former education minister Amnon Rubinstein, a fellow jurist who is also affiliated with the Interdisciplinary Center.
 

 

"The situation requires balance between protecting our existence and the humanist heritage of our people. The harsh accusations of the Goldstone report being disseminated worldwide cannot be ignored. We must investigate Israel's conduct in Operation Cast Lead to stand guard over the combat morality of the Israel Defense Forces," he said.

 

Reichman said one unfair conclusion of the report is that Israel planned to harm innocent civilians.

 

"Israel is presented as a murderous country. Without saying so outrightly, [the report] describes Israel as an apartheid state. It says the Israeli justice system is unreliable in overseeing the military and in its attitude toward the Arab minority. It determines that the Arab minority lacks freedom of expression and protest.

 

"The most infuriating thing is the invalidation of the legal system. After the Israeli legal system has been attacked from within for interfering too much, the Goldstone report now argues that it does not interfere enough," the statement said.