Israel against the world

Finally the UN has released his report on the alleged war crimes that Israel may have incurred during Operation Cast Lead. The report states that Israel, among other charges, “terrorized” the population of Gaza and reckons the role played by the Israeli blockade of the strip before the war to trigger Hamas into rocketing Israel. It also recognizes that Hamas rockets over civilian populated areas might be considered as well as war crimes.

However, the Jewish country criticized the report even before it came into the light and the fact of it blaming both sides -Hamas too- of war crimes in Gaza is not changing that. Quite the contrary, Israel is taking the 575 pages report as a declaration of war. From the UN? And after bombing UN compounds and killing UN workers in Lebanon and Gaza? Really?

Truth is that some indicators say Israeli diplomats can be scared. There is obviously the real danger of having more Doron Almog cases widespreading through the small and cyclic diplomatic-political field in Israel. Or even worse, having to face the ICC.

In Yedioth Aharanoth, commentator Eitan Haber warns that the image of Israel being built with these reports can isolate the Israelis in the international arena. More voices inside Israel want a critical insight on the country’s own armed forces and procedures.

But for now, the response has been the usual. The anti-Semitism trigger is easy to pull for Israeli politicians. Race card is already being played. In Israel Today, Dan Margalit called the report, prepared by a team led by the Jewish, South African jurist Richard Goldstone, classic anti-Semitism. In fact, Goldstone hand actually softened the report, which could have been way worse for Israel.

Once again, it’s the Jews against the world, standing alone. Amira Hass reckons that “like the Serbs of yore, we Israelis continue thinking it's the world that is wrong, and only we who are right”.

Ari Shavit, in Haaretz, even calls for Obama -and other NATO countries like Germany, Britain, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway- being charged too for the civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq. The tu quoque it’s clearly a way easier argument than being critic with oneself.

Indeed, Israel is moving on in an offensive to try to discredit the report from UN and the UN itself. But they are not the only ones. Just this week, it was known that Human Rights Watch’s senior military analyst Marc Garlasco, who reported the use of white phosphorus by Israel in Gaza, is a private collector of Nazi medals, gear and uniforms. Weather if Garlasco’s hobby is an unusual hobby, a fetish, or a sign of anti-Semitic, Israel prefers to stick with the last option and use it to discredit Garlasco’s work and, by extension, Human Rights Watch’s work.

However, Israel rejections of the report and allegations against Garlasco don’t change the facts. And most importantly, they make more complicated another attack from Israel to a foreign country -let's say... Iran- on the eyes of the world. Does Israel care about that? Well, that's another different question.

Photo: IDF


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