Richard Kemp, the former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, has made a lengthy submission to the United Nations 'human rights council's investigative commissionkangaroo court regarding Israeli actions to minimize civilian casualties during last summer's Operation Protective Edge. It's very much worth it to read the whole thing. Here's the conclusion.
In conclusion, in my opinion the IDF took exceptional measures to adhere to the Laws of Armed Conflict and to minimise civilian casualties in Gaza. During the conflict many politicians, UN leaders, human rights groups and NGOs called on the Israelis to take greater action to minimise civilian casualties in Gaza. Yet none of them suggested any additional ways of doing this. I conclude that this was because Israel was taking all feasible steps. I believe Israel to be world leaders in actions to minimise civilian casualties; and this is borne out by the efforts made by the US Army, the most sophisticated and powerful in the world, to learn from the IDF on this issue.
In my opinion Israel is also making strenuous efforts to investigate incidents where civilians were apparently unlawfully killed, wounded or ill-treated, and where civilian property was unlawfully damaged or stolen. I am not aware of any nation that has conducted more comprehensive or resolute investigations into its own military activities than Israel during and following the 2014 Gaza conflict.
On the other hand, Hamas and other groups in Gaza took the opposite approach to that of the IDF. Their entire strategy was based on flouting the Laws of Armed Conflict, deliberately targeting the Israeli civilian population, using their own civilian population as human shields and seeking to entice the IDF to take military action that would kill large numbers of Gaza civilians for their own propaganda purposes. There was and is of course no accountability or investigation of any allegations against Hamas and other extremist groups in Gaza.
I strongly urge the Commissioners to condemn Hamas and the other groups for their actions during this conflict. Failure to do so would be tantamount to encouraging a repeat of such actions in the future, by Hamas and other Gaza groups and by extremist groups around the world who would wish to emulate the actions in Gaza. This would undoubtedly result in further loss of life in Gaza, in Israel and elsewhere.
Similar encouragement is given to extremist groups by the lamentable tendency of some international actors to afford moral equivalence to Hamas, an internationally proscribed terrorist organization, and Israel, a liberal democratic state.
I also urge the Commissioners to give fair consideration to Israel’s actions during this conflict and not simply to jump on the over-burdened bandwagon of automatic condemnation. Where the actions of the IDF were genuinely wrong then of course the Commission should criticise them, call upon them to bring the perpetrators to justice where appropriate and to adjust future procedures as necessary. But false accusations of war crimes, as were made by the Commissioners that investigated the 2008-09 Gaza conflict (the ‘Goldstone Report’), will do nothing to advance the cause of peace and human rights. Instead, such accusations will encourage similar action by Hamas and other groups in the future, leading to further violence and loss of life.
Many people believe that your findings are a foregone conclusion, as the findings of the 2008-09 Commission regrettably proved to be. They believe that you will roundly and without foundation condemn Israel for war crimes while at best making only token criticism of Hamas and other Gaza extremist groups. If you genuinely want to contribute to peace and to improve human rights for the people of Gaza and of Israel then you must have the courage to reject the UN Human Rights Council’s persistent and discriminatory anti-Israel programme and produce a balanced and fair report into these tragic events.
IAF pilots bitterly complain over inability to help comrades on the ground
Channel 2 reported on Thursday night that IAF pilots are frustrated with their inability to help their comrades on the ground due to the rules of engagement to which they are subject.
Let's go to the videotape (Hebrew only - English summary to follow).
“Testimony that is reaching us from fighter pilots who provide close
air assistance to the combat soldiers who are currently fighting in the
field,” Channel 2's military correspondent Nir Dvori reported,
“about growing frustration over the fact that they hear the forces below
them on the ground asking for cover and close air support when they see
the terrorists drawing near from short range, firing at them, and there
is no approval, because of various limitations, so as not to hit
innocent civilians, and out of concern not to hit uninvolved people, and
for this reason they cannot always give covering fire, cannot always
fire, and so the frustration is that to some extent, they are leaving
the fighters on their own to fight on the ground...”
Yaron Lerman, a Facebook user who posted video of Dvori's statement,
asked: “Does Israel, as a Jewish and democratic state, have the right to
forcibly conscript its citizens and send them to their deaths so as not
to hurt enemy civilians? Is that what the state of Israel was
established for?”
Interesting and timely. Last night, the weekly Torah class that I attend dealt with the question of whether it is permitted under Jewish laws of war to kill innocent civilians who may be endangering the lives of Israeli troops. The bottom line is that the rabbi concluded that it is permitted if there is no other way to save the Israeli soldiers.
Ynet's veteran defense analyst Ron Ben Yishai reported that
one of the reasons that Hamas was prepared to face Israeli ground troops
in the Shejaiya neighborhood, where IDF suffered 13 killed in one day
of fighting, is that the residents were given ample advance notice of
the IDF's intent to enter the neighborhood.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz took pride in the fact that
the IDF takes such care to notify residents of its attack plans. “We
cannot agree for Hamas to place civilians in our path,” he said earlier
this week. “So what we have done is to warn the civilians over and over
again to evacuate. There are no armies like this, which drop leaflets,
call on the phone, bomb next to the target or carry out a 'knock on the
roof,' and even disperse the residents with smoke.”
There used to be one. It was King Saul's army which warned the Keini nation to leave Amalek before he attacked (1 Samuel 15).
For those who read Hebrew, there's a much lengthier piece on this issue from Ben Caspit here.
Even the Palestinian Authority, despite its declarations, is not hastening to assist in finding out the truth. After two weeks, the Palestinian security forces have yet to hand over to the IDF the bullets removed from the bodies of the two young men during the autopsy in the Ramallah hospital.
And still, the shooting of rubber bullets, for which the soldier was suspended, reveals a few things about the conduct of the army during violent clashes with demonstrators. The soldier was suspended from his job, and a Military Police investigation was opened against him, because the firing of rubber bullets was not part of his assignment during the demonstration. Although he was trained as a combat soldier, his job (the precise nature of which cannot be disclosed due to a military court gag order,) is connected primarily to communications.
The Border Policeman and the other soldiers who fired rubber bullets during the demonstration were authorized to do so; the communications soldier was not. His suspension, which under ordinary circumstances would not have aroused any interest, attracted media attention because it took place in the wake of an incident that was to a great extent documented by security cameras and television cameras. Had it been a matter of soldiers who killed unarmed Palestinians in undocumented incidents — which take place almost on a monthly basis on the West Bank — there probably would have been no news coverage.
But the soldier is not so exceptional. A fact that is not widely discussed is that for quite a few soldiers who participate in dispersing demonstrations it’s a chance to take part in the “action” - firing shots, albeit it with non-lethal ammunition, in the midst of the chaos, and the adrenaline rush of a confrontation. We can reasonably assume that the soldier was seeking an exciting experience, or an escape from boredom, and that the Border Police acceded to his request to allow him to fire rubber bullets at the demonstration.
In recent years, most of the clashes between the IDF and the Border Police on one hand, and Palestinian demonstrators on the other, take place at times and in locations that the two sides have chosen in advance — what the army dubs “focus points of friction.” Although the encounter takes place repeatedly, sometimes on a weekly basis, the commanders do not have total control over the soldiers. There is always a possibility that a soldier will violate the rules of engagement, without his commanders knowing exactly what he is up to during the demonstration.
The potential for damage is exacerbated when the shooter is a soldier attached to a force and is not part of an organic unit. In the IDF there are many such job-holders — drivers, dog handlers, intelligence operatives and others — who wander among the units and join them for a few hours or a few days. This is potentially dangerous because the soldier is not part of the regular chain of command. The operational commander in the field didn’t know him before they were teamed up for the assignment, whereas his commanders are at the base and are unable to supervise him and to make sure that he is following orders.
During the years of the second intifada there were several incidents in which non-combat soldiers who found themselves in the line of fire caused problems for the unit to which they were attached, whether by firing irresponsibly on civilians or by operational mistakes (and even firing inadvertently at other soldiers). This is a weak point which almost invites mishaps, although judging by what the investigation has found until now, the soldier from the communications unit is not connected to the killing of the demonstrators.
The items I highlighted in bold reflect unsubstantiated allegations by Haaretz. The first paragraph (that I quoted - there were a couple of others before it) and the last half sentence reflect reality. And with good reason: There is no proof thus far that the IDF is responsible for the alleged killings.
You might recall the story of the soldier who has become known as David Nachalawi, the IDF soldier who was dismissed from his unit by the IDF for cocking his weapon because he felt endangered in Hebron. Thousands of IDF soldiers have come out in support of 'Nachalawi.' In fact, rumor has it that so has President Obama.
Now, on Egyptian television, the 'Angry Arab' has also come out in favor of Nachalawi.
You need to understand Hebrew to really appreciate this video.
The original broadcast is from a news show in Egypt, but some Israeli put in Hebrew subtitles that had all of us in the office rolling on the floor laughing. I tried to translate it into English, but I can’t stop laughing as I watch, so I gave up.
The comments are also funny. The Israelis don’t realize the subtitles aren’t real, and the Arabs are confused as to why some of the text doesn’t exactly match what he’s saying.
I am embedding the video below. But it turns out that what's funniest about this video is the fake translation. The real video is from July 2013 and features an Egyptian opposition activist going ballistic after a speech by then-President Morsi. I'm embedding the real video with the real English translation below the fake one.
Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: NY Nana).
And here's the real translation into English from MEMRI in July 2013.
Let's go to the videotape.
Kind of reminds of you of some of the fake 'lastdays of Hitler' videos, doesn't it?
3,000 soldiers from all units protest IDF soldier's dismissal over 'rules of engagement'
On duty in Hebron, surrounded by three Arabs who were threatening him, an IDF soldier from the Nachal Brigade cocked his weapon. Unfortunately, the incident was being taped by activists of B'Tselem, which is funded by the charlatans of the New Israel Fund. The soldier was thrown out of the army. 3,000 other soldiers from every unit in the army have come to his defense. But first, the incident itself.
The video shows at least three Arab youths behaving in a threatening
manner toward the soldier, who was alone. The soldier warns one of the
youths not to continue provoking him, after the youth pushes him, but
the youth continues to behave in a threatening manner. The soldier cocks
his weapon and points it at the youth and at another youth who springs
toward him, with what appears to be a set of brass knuckles on his hand.
The soldier kicks the first youth away from him.
The video does not include the provocations that preceded the
incident. In a longer version he also warns the cameraman to stop
videotaping the incident and calls for backup.
Arabs and their left-wing collaborators uploaded the video to the
internet and notified the media. The IDF promptly announced that the
soldier's behavior “deviated from the norm.”
Military sources said that
the soldier used too much violence and acted hastily when he attacked
the youth, and that he might be dismissed from his unit as a result.
They also said that the soldier would no longer serve in combat
positions.
Not serving in combat positions means a cut in salary. Among other things.
Here's what happened next. Let's go to the videotape.
News site 0404's editor, Boaz Golan, told the NRG
website that following the story, he received two photographs from IDF
soldiers who expressed identification with the Nahal soldier by holding
signs that said “I stand with the Nahlawi” (“Nahlawi” is military slang
for Nahal soldier).
Once he uploaded the pictures to the site's Facebook page, he was
swamped by a deluge of similar photos from all of the IDF's units. “I do
not remember such a widespread protest in the IDF, ever,” Golan said.
“One can certainly say tht this is a protest that includes all of the
soldiers and Border Police, all of the units countrywide. We got more
than 3,100 photos with the caption 'I stand with the Nahlawi.'”
"The soldiers we spoke to – including pilots, naval commandos,
members of Duvdevan, all of the mandatory service army units and even a
battalion commander in an active combat brigade – demand that the
Israeli government give them the ability to properly deal with the
difficulties they encounter on the ground. They are protesting that
their hands are tied and they are unable to respond properly to violence
by the Palestinians. They stress that they are not against the IDF and
that they are ready to serve and carry out any mission. The main protest
is against the policy, which is not determined by the army.”
Lieberman tells the truth again: 'Palestinian police' who attack IDF soldiers shouldn't live to talk about it
Yet another politically incorrect statement from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who told Israel Radio on Tuesday that 'Palestinian police' who attack Israeli soldiers 'shouldn't remain alive.'
But first, let's go to the videotape and see the incident from last Thursday in Hebron that prompted Lieberman's comment.
Palestinian policeman who strike IDF soldiers "should not remain
alive," Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman told Israel Radio on Tuesday.
"I
will not accept a situation in which an IDF soldier in Hebron gets
punched by a Palestinian policeman and that policeman remains alive,"
Liberman said. "I don't accept that."
He should take it up with the Defense Ministry and the IDF. And there's what to take up.
Soldiers have complained that rules of engagement, which call for
restraint but allow shots to be fired in case of an immediate threat to
life, are too foggy to be applied clearly.
"It can't be that
Israeli solders will be hit and punched, and [the Palestinians] will
stay alive," Liberman repeated. "Whoever thinks that our actions are
having a calming effect is wrong. In fact, it's the opposite. We're only
motivating them to provoke us further."
Central Command officers
have identified a sharp rise in the number of violent disturbances in
the West Bank in recent weeks, resulting in a call to forces to increase
awareness at all levels.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak is retiring after the elections. Will Israel get a defense minister who is more interested in defending the country than in defending his relations with the Left? Stay tuned.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
