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VOANews.com
original article
Reports: Israeli Military to Consult Legal Advisers During Future Conflicts
VOA News 06 January 2010
Israeli soldiers are seen during an army operation in the West Bank city of
Nablus, Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009. Palestinian officials say Israeli troops
have killed three activists of the Fatah movement of Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas.
Published reports in Israel say the country's military has decided to
consult more closely with legal advisers about how it conducts future
offensives.
The reports say Israel's military wants to ensure the legality of its
operations and avoid a repeat of international criticism of its war with
Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip one year ago.
The reports say Israeli military chief Gabi Ashkenazi has ordered his staff
to consult with legal experts during the course of offensives, not just in
the planning stage. They say Israeli military officers also will receive
more intensive training in the rules of war and international law.
Sometimes you have to read between the lines to find the facts. The military
obtained legal advice before the conflict but not during it. A popular
truism is that all planning is worthless once the battle begins. So while
what it planned to do can be construed as vetted by attorneys no one has any
idea if what actually happened was legal.
What is the purpose of this change if in fact everything was legal?
U.N. investigators led by South African judge Richard Goldstone issued a
report last year accusing both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes
during the conflict.
Justice Goldstone has become sort of a Dreyfuss for Israel.
Since then, Israeli political and military officials have canceled trips to
Britain to avoid potential arrest on war crimes charges filed by
pro-Palestinian activists.
In other developments, Israeli officials say Defense Minister Ehud Barak has
received dozens of death threats from Israeli ultranationalists in recent
weeks.
Ultranationalists have reacted angrily to Barak's enforcement of limits on
Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank. Many fear the 10-month
slowdown imposed by the government last November will lead to the disbanding
of settlements on land the Palestinians want for a state.
Officials say Israel's internal Shin Bet security service is investigating
the death threats against Barak and has reinforced his security detail. In
1995, an ultranationalist Jew opposed to peacemaking with the Palestinians
assassinated then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Meanwhile, an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip killed a Palestinian
militant and wounded three others Tuesday. The Israeli military says it
launched the raid against a group of militants who were preparing to fire
rockets into Israel.
A Palestinian militant group says one of its commanders, Jihad Smairi, was
killed in the air strike in the town of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The
Popular Resistance Committees had claimed responsibility for firing a mortar
into Israel on Monday.
The Gaza-Israel border region has been largely quiet since Israel ended its
offensive against Hamas last January.
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