BICOM

Judge Richard Goldstone, the senior South African jurist who chaired the United Nations investigation into the conduct of the Israel Defense Forces during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in December 2008, has published an article in the Washington Post in which he partially retracts the conclusions of the committee’s report. Most importantly, Goldstone withdraws the accusation of ‘intentionality’ on the part of Israel – that is, the accusation that Israel deliberately targeted civilians during the operation. Goldstone notes that much more is now known about what took place during Operation Cast Lead than was known at the time that the report was written. The investigations subsequently carried out by the Israeli military, he noted, have established the validity of some of the claims in the report. Nonetheless, he states clearly that “they also indicate that civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy.”

Goldstone’s statement appears to have been influenced by the subsequent investigation by a UN committee of independent experts, chaired by former New York judge Mary McGowan Davies, which followed up on the recommendations of the Goldstone report. McGowan Davies noted that “Israel has dedicated significant resources to investigate over 400 allegations of operational misconduct in Gaza.” She also made clear that the Hamas authorities have carried out no investigations into the conduct of their forces in the course of the fighting in Gaza. Judge Goldstone reiterates the criticism against Hamas: “That the crimes allegedly committed by Hamas were intentional goes without saying – its rockets were purposefully and indiscriminately aimed at civilian targets.”

For full BICOM Briefing and further resources on the Goldstone Report click here