Netanyahu: No judicial inquiry into Cast Lead
Prime Minister Netanyahu has rejected calls to set up an independent judicial inquiry - probably under retired Chief Justice Aharon Barak - to look into allegations of 'war crimes' by IDF soldiers. Netanyahu has a better idea. Various prominent Israelis have therefore argued that the only way to quash the report is to set up an inquiry commission headed by an internationally respected jurist like former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak.Netanyahu argues - correctly - that if Israel cannot defend itself in the future it cannot take risks for peace.
But Netanyahu, who held two meetings on the subject on Wednesday, believes a more effective way of blocking the report would be to make it clear to the international community that referral to the ICC would sound the death knell of the peace process.
And while Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Wednesday that Defense Minister Ehud Barak favors the inquiry commission route, Barak himself denied the report yesterday. His office confirmed that he has asked Aharon Barak to contribute to the legal battle against the report, but said he opposes an inquiry commission.
Netanyahu also denied the Yedioth report, and his associates said the government has never seriously considered such a commission. The prime minister, they explained, fears that setting up an inquiry commission would imply that the probes now being conducted by the Israel Defense Forces are untrustworthy.
In contrast, Foreign Ministry sources said Israeli representatives overseas have been flooded with messages from friendly governments urging the establishment of an inquiry commission as the best way to block the report.
The defense minister's office said the government will therefore try to find some kind of compromise mechanism, headed by a senior legal figure such as Aharon Barak, that would show the international community Israel has stepped up its efforts to investigate the allegations.
Read the whole thing.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:49 PM
1 Comments:
Israel should not give Goldstone any legal sanction. Israel should make it clear to foreign governments if they do not help to squash the report, they should not count on Israel's continued cooperation in the "peace process." There is no reason for Israel to assume risks for peace if it cannot count on international understanding for its security. The world in short has a simple choice to make: it can stand beside Israel or it can stand with the terrorists.
That is the message Israel should convey on what it expects now that Goldstone is official at the UN.
Post a Comment
<< Home