The grounds for Goldstone’s retraction Friday were findings from a follow-up UN report, which found that Israel had investigated more than 400 allegations lodged against its forces stemming from Operation Cast Lead. Those investigations concluded that there was loss of civilian life because of Israeli attacks, but not as a matter of Israeli policy.
An Israeli investigation into its own actions in the conflict was one of the chief recommendations in the Goldstone Report, and the judge acknowledged in his column that Israel has made strides in meeting that request – albeit with some major procedural flaws.
While the length of this investigation is frustrating, it appears that an appropriate process is underway, and I am confident that if the officer is found to have been negligent, Israel will respond accordingly. The purpose of these investigations, as I have always said, is to ensure accountability for improper actions, not to second-guess, with the benefit of hindsight, commanders making difficult battlefield decisions.
The Goldstone Report also called on Palestinian authorities to investigate charges lodged against Palestinians in the conflict – a recommendation that remains unmet, Goldstone wrote.
“Some have suggested that it was absurd to expect Hamas, an organization that has a policy to destroy the state of Israel, to investigate what we said were serious war crimes. It was my hope, even if unrealistic, that Hamas would do so, especially if Israel conducted its own investigations. At minimum I hoped that in the face of a clear finding that its members were committing serious war crimes, Hamas would curtail its attacks. Sadly, that has not been the case.”
