If only Israel had cooperated

I wish that the energy the government and its supporters had put into discrediting the report had been invested in working with our mission.

By RICHARD GOLDSTONE
Excerpts from a statement by Judge Richard Goldstone for the meeting with South African Jewish community leaders on Monday.
Let me say that I have taken no pleasure in seeing people around the world criticize the South African Jewish community, and I commend the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and all responsible for bringing an end to the unfortunate public issues that had arisen relating to my grandson’s bar mitzva. My family and I are delighted that I was able to attend the bar mitzva on Saturday, and that it was such a joyous and meaningful occasion. I am deeply grateful to Rabbi Suchard, the members of the committee and the congregation at Sandton Synagogue for having made this possible.
Without more, allow me to turn to the Gaza report that has caused so much anger in this and other Jewish communities. It is well-known that initially I refused to become involved with what I considered to be a mandate that was unfair to Israel by concentrating only on war crimes alleged to have been committed by the IDF. When I was offered an even-handed mandate that included war crimes alleged to have been committed against Israel by Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza, my position changed.
I have spent much of my professional life in the cause of international criminal justice. It would have been hypocritical for me to continue to speak out against violations of international law and impunity for war crimes around the world but remain silent when it came to Israel simply because I am Jewish.
The State of Israel was established in 1948 by the United Nations acting on the principles of international law. It should not be surprising that Israel has always committed itself to being bound by the norms and practices of international law. I have always assumed that Israel would wish to be judged by the highest standards of international law. One of the cardinal norms, accepted by Israel, is that of “distinction” – the requirement that there be proportionality between a military goal and civilian casualties caused in achieving that goal.
THIS WAS the first occasion in which the UN Human Rights Council was prepared to consider military operations between Israel and the militant organizations from all perspectives and offer Israel the opportunity of telling its story to a United Nations inquiry. I also anticipated that this might herald the start of a new approach by the Human Rights Council in which all similar human rights valuations around the world receive equal attention.
But sadly for everyone, the Israeli government squandered that opportunity. That did not prevent the mission from finding that serious war crimes appeared to have been committed by Hamas and other militant groups operating from Gaza. That finding was also accepted by the UN General Assembly, the Human Rights Council and the European Parliament. The right of Israel to act in self-defense was also not questioned by the report.
The letters that passed between me and both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Israeli ambassador to Geneva are attached to the Gaza report and tell the story, most openly, of my desire for Israeli cooperation and the concerns of Israel with regard to cooperating with our mission. That Israel refused to cooperate meant we had to do the best we could with the information we were able to gather. I only wish that the energy the government of Israel and its supporters had put into discrediting the report had been invested in cooperating with our mission.
It is obvious but must be stated: Had Israel provided us with credible information to respond to the allegations we received, it would have been given appropriate consideration and could potentially have influenced our findings. That was unfortunately not forthcoming. We cannot undo the past.
In conclusion, I would state that it is regrettable that the majorityof the Israeli government decided against accepting the first andprimary recommendation of the Gaza mission, namely to launch its ownopen and credible investigation into the findings contained in thereport. That is still a course open to it and, if adopted andimplemented in good faith, would effectively put an end to calls forinternational criminal investigations.
I am not aware that the UN Gaza report has or is being used todelegitimize Israel by questioning its right to exist as a member ofthe international community. I would object to any such use being madeof it. I also express my expectation and hope that the UN Human RightsCouncil will treat all violations of humanitarian law, no matter bywho, in an evenhanded manner, and hold all members of the UnitedNations to the same standards.
The writer led the UN-mandated Gaza Fact-Finding Mission established toinvestigate alleged crimes committed during Operation Cast Lead.