Israeli officials fear War Crimes charges

[pkd]

Israeli officials in fear of war crimes charges
Israeli PM huddles with legal advisors over possible involvement of International Criminal Court on Gaza.

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TEL AVIV - Israel mounted a diplomatic offensive on Wednesday, trying to contain damage from a damning UN report that accused the Jewish state and Palestinian resistance of war crimes during the Gaza war.
The Israeli leadership fears one recommendation of the report in particular, according to local media -- that the UN Human Rights Council submits the report to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, which could lead to charges being brought against senior Israeli officials involved in the war.

"The goal is to avoid a slippery slope which would lead Israel to the International Criminal Court in The Hague," the left-leaning Haaretz daily quoted a senior official as saying.

Hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu huddled with his foreign minister and senior political and legal advisors late into the night on Tuesday after the report was released at the UN headquarters by Judge Richard Goldstone, a former war crimes prosecutor.

The premier along with the Israeli president and defence minister were to telephone their counterparts around the world to drive home Israel's message that the report was one-sided and unbalanced, Haaretz said.

"We are going to deploy great diplomatic and political efforts on the international stage to block and contain" the effects of the Goldstone Commission report, said foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.

"We fear this will be a hit to our image," he said. "But the recommendations of this report are so extreme that there is little chance that they will be followed on."

The UN probe said both Israel and Palestinian groups committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the Israeli 22-day war in December-January on Gaza.

It reserved some of its harshest language for the actions taken by Israel against the civilian population in the densely-populated Gaza Strip.

Both Israel and Hamas rejected the findings as unbalanced.

 

[Thomas]

Israeli officials in fear of war crimes charges
Israeli PM huddles with legal advisors over possible involvement of International Criminal Court on Gaza.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TEL AVIV - Israel mounted a diplomatic offensive on Wednesday, trying to contain damage from a damning UN report that accused the Jewish state and Palestinian resistance of war crimes during the Gaza war.
The Israeli leadership fears one recommendation of the report in particular, according to local media -- that the UN Human Rights Council submits the report to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, which could lead to charges being brought against senior Israeli officials involved in the war.

"The goal is to avoid a slippery slope which would lead Israel to the International Criminal Court in The Hague," the left-leaning Haaretz daily quoted a senior official as saying.

Hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu huddled with his foreign minister and senior political and legal advisors late into the night on Tuesday after the report was released at the UN headquarters by Judge Richard Goldstone, a former war crimes prosecutor.

The premier along with the Israeli president and defence minister were to telephone their counterparts around the world to drive home Israel's message that the report was one-sided and unbalanced, Haaretz said.

"We are going to deploy great diplomatic and political efforts on the international stage to block and contain" the effects of the Goldstone Commission report, said foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.

"We fear this will be a hit to our image," he said. "But the recommendations of this report are so extreme that there is little chance that they will be followed on."

The UN probe said both Israel and Palestinian groups committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the Israeli 22-day war in December-January on Gaza.

It reserved some of its harshest language for the actions taken by Israel against the civilian population in the densely-populated Gaza Strip.

Both Israel and Hamas rejected the findings as unbalanced.

dream on, will never happen. also if you look at the countries that sit on the U.N. committee. you will find it far from being none partial. The U.S. has complained about the human rights committee and it's make up for years.

This is what will happen. a lot of chest thumping and propaganda. and tit for tat retaliation. the current ceasefire will never hold forever. Militants will get to antsy and commit a suicide bombing or start launching rockets again in mass. Israel will retaliate and we will get the same type headlines and accusations again. The Palestinians will stay embroiled in a civil war. and the conflict will keep going for another 60 years. Simply becuase some Palestinians refuse to believe that can't drive Israel into the sea.