Israel readies to deal with legal challenges to Gaza op

By HERB KEINON
Concerned about a wave of legal actions abroad against IDF officers who took part in Operation Cast Lead, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni convened an interministerial staff meeting Monday and directed it to map out, within a week, where legal problems exist abroad and how to deal with them. Last month, shortly after the Gaza operation and as organizations abroad made clear that they would press criminal charges against IDF officers involved in the operation, the cabinet passed a resolution that it would provide legal defense for all those involved, and set up the interministerial committee to deal with the situation. The committee includes representatives from the justice, defense and interior ministries, as well as the IDF and the national security council. During Monday's meeting, which included representatives of all the relevant bodies, a detailed briefing was provided on the legal actions already taken by Israel in certain cases to rebuff the legal challenges. Livni directed the team to consolidate all the data, as well as how Israel plans to deal with the issue, and bring it within a week to the interministerial committee.