Israel to present response to Goldstone report
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The Israeli government will present its response on Friday to the Goldstone report, which suggested Israel may have been guilty of war crimes during its military operation in and around the Gaza Strip a year ago.
Many buildings were destroyed and people lost their lives when Israeli tanks and troops moved into the Palestinian coastal enclave in early January, 2009. A week earlier, Israeli military aircraft paved the way for the ground invasion with air strikes.
The Israeli paper is eagerly awaited not only in the UN, where it will be accepted by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, but also in the Muslim world and amongst international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). They have been highly critical of Israel's actions during what it dubbed Operation Cast Lead and are demanding Israeli leaders be placed on trial.
Most Israelis seem to be of the opinion that the Goldstone inquiry and what has followed were part of a witch hunt against the Jewish state.
Israel position
The war began after some eight years during which thousands of rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel. While the casualty numbers were fairly low, given the apparent lack of accuracy of the home-made projectiles, Israel eventually said enough was enough and launched a hard-hitting three-week operation in a bid to end the missile fire.
As a result, as many as 1,400 Palestinians were killed. Palestinian medical officials claimed most were noncombatants. Israel challenges that suggestion and questions the casualty numbers.
Israel maintains that during the fighting it did whatever possible to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties and insists that very often Hamas fighters in Gaza were shooting at Israeli targets from positions within populated areas, even inside occupied apartment blocs.
Israel is of the opinion that the international condemnation of its actions is part of a broader issue. Israeli politicians and members of the public alike see the international community as largely dead set against the Jewish state.
Israeli leaders deny that this is down to paranoia, arguing that the facts speak for themselves. The UN Human Rights Council (HRC), which initiated the Goldstone inquiry, discusses Israel disproportionately to its size and to its actions, the Israelis say, adding that other states that are far more guilty of committing war crimes hardly get a mention.
Voting at the council and UN General Assembly is a foregone conclusion, they say. The 21 Arab League states, the Muslim bloc and the non-aligned nations hold some 130 seats at the UN and virtually all of these vote automatically against Israel. As a result all votes in the UN concerning the Middle East go against the Jewish state.
When it comes to the report itself, some in Israel, particularly on the hawkish side of the political spectrum, believe Israel should simply ignore its findings and not submit a formal response to the UN.
"I am very surprised that Israel is taking this seriously and I felt that the charges of the Goldstone report were such that I was frankly surprised that someone with (Judge Richard) Goldstone's reputation had taken on the task," said Ira Sharkansky, a professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
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