Richard Goldstone's UN Report

Following Richard Goldstone's Report for the UN into Israel's conduct during the Gaza War of December 2008 - January 2009, there has been a flurry of criticism from many sides regarding the bias of the report and whether it even achieved what it was meant to or whether it was misdirected altogether. The report recommended that the case be brought before the International Criminal Court in the Hague. For Israel to be brought before this court however for war crimes it has to be shown that it did not deal with allegations internally.

Let us remind ourselves what was the purpose of Operation Cast Lead to begin with. Following the daily bombardment of Qassam rockets from Gaza into Israel, the difficult decision was made by Israel to retailiate and achieve its goal of 'restoring quiet to its southern communities'. This was a very tough decision to make as it would mean retliating in areas which are known to be very densely populated and fighting an enemy which is rooted amongst civilians. In this way, Israel faced very similar conditions as US and UK forces are being confronted with in their war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The overriding concern in fighting this kind of war is how to minimise civilian casualties and fight the war according to international law while at the same time achieving these objectives. It is interesting to note that following goldstone's report, and despite Europe's usual disapproval and criticism of Israel, NATO have been consulting with Israel as to how best fight this kind of assymetrical warfare.

It is known that throughout Israel's war, there were International Law experts and lawyers behind every decision and manouvre to ensure it was compliant with the standard requirements. Furthermore in Israel, these lawyers, although part of the IDF, are not confined by rank and are free to counter a superior ranking officer's desire or viewpoint on a certain operation. Furthermore, all legal departments are overseen by Israel's internationally respected independent Supreme Court, established under British Mandate rule in (1922-1948).

It is true that civilians were killed and mistakes were made. This is the very nature of war. No war is perfect and operations do not always go according to plan. No-one in their right mind would expect this of any country though Israel seems to have different standards applied and expected of. This is unfair. According to international law, it needs to be proven that there was no intention behind the mistakes and that they were indeed just that, mistakes, with Israel following procedures to avoid such casualties according to international law.


With regards to this aspect and following the war, it is well documented that Israel has carried out thorough investigations into its conduct and that of its soldiers and have investigated over 100 allegations. To date 1 soldier has been charged and sentenced to 7 and a half months in prison for looting. More serious allegations such as using civilians to inspect houses before IDF soldiers go in, which was banned by the Supreme court in 2005 are also curently under invesitgation.

Prior and following the report there are also investigations into attacks on UN compounds, the use of white phosphorous, shootings at medical facilities and personnel which have been ordered by Israel's Chief of Staff, Gabi Ashkenazi.

The issue of the War in Gaza raises important questions about the nature of modern warfare which is more often than not involving States Vs Non-State Actors, something which International Law is still under-developed and highly ambiguous to handle with certainty. It has been shown, despite Goldstone's report which arguably focussed on the issues which were not part of its purpose,that Israel has a credible system in place for ensuring that it operates according to high professional military standards and investigates allegations of misconduct and operational errors. Like any other system, it is not perfect, and like other modern democratic states, Israel tries to take stock and learn lessons for dealing with future threats. Ultimately, Israel seeks to be held to account for its military operation in Gaza in the same way that other Western democracies are held to account when they go to war and not to have a double standard applied to it which would not be held against many other states who have carried out far worse.



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