Israel: Mistakes Made In War, But No Criminal Charges In Deadly Gaza Strike

[Purveyor]

Jerusalem (CNN) -- Israel will not open a criminal investigation into the airstrike that killed 10 members of a Palestinian family and two of their neighbors during the November 2012 war with Gaza.

Israel's Military Advocate General (MAG) revealed its decision last week in a report that examined allegations of misconduct during Operation Pillar of Defence.

The report looked into 80 incidents during the eight days of intense fighting that included Israeli air strikes and Palestinian rocket launches. The independent advocate general said it needed more information on 15 cases, but found no basis for a criminal investigation in the other 65 incidents -- including the strike that killed 10 members of the Al-Dalou family.

On November 18, the Al-Dalou family -- including five women and four small children -- was inside their three-story home when the Israeli air force dropped a bomb that obliterated the dwelling. The explosion also heavily damaged two neighboring houses, killing two other people. Neighbors tried desperately to pull people out of the rubble alive but none survived.

MORE...

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/17/world/meast/israel-gaza-strike-report

[Jefferson23]

1. Not open a criminal investigation...someone on planet Earth thought they ever would?

K&R for the self-exonerated.

[Alamuti Lotus]

2. That picture is really all in how you look at it

I know that through an uneducated and Israel-hating lense that might look bad, and the fact that three generations of a family were wiped out in a few seconds sounds bad--especially if you hate the Jews--, but there's a satisfying explanation. I'm not sure what the hell that explanation might be, but I'm sure somebody will offer one, and try to posit the argument that you're a very bigoted person if you don't accept it.

See? Everything is explained, now just let it go. The "IDF" already found its actions to be exemplary, why are you still bothering about it? Some rockets landed on a resort and mildly inconvenienced a few people, why aren't you frothing about that?

[Jefferson23]

3. Precisely. After all, they are the most moral army in the world.

Everything is explained and then ignored.

Flash from the past:

ANALYSIS / Can Israel dismiss its own troops' stories from Gaza?
Testimonies of IDF soldiers show that Israel's view of the enemy is becoming more extreme.
By Amos Harel | Mar.19, 2009 | 1:10 AM

* If the IDF really never heard about these incidents, the reasonable assumption is that it did not want to know. The soldiers describe the reality in combat units, from the level of company commander down. In the debriefings, the participants usually include company commanders up. It seems that except for isolated incidents, the rule is "you don't ask, we won't tell."

The ones who finally let the dark secrets out were the soldiers in the combat units themselves. Somewhere along the way their moral warning lights went off.

In the coming days, in an effort to rebuff the claims, we will certainly hear about those who "pulled one over" on Zamir. In 1990, as a company commander in the reserves, Zamir was tried and sentenced to prison for refusing to guard a ceremony where right-wingers brought Torah scrolls to Joseph's Tomb in Nablus. But even though Zamir does not hide his political opinions, a reading of the transcript shows he acts out of a deep concern for the spirit of the IDF.

The IDF's ethical problems did not start in 2009. Such discussions also followed the Six-Day War. But a reserve officer who looked at the transcript Wednesday said: "This is not the IDF we knew."

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/analysis-can-israel-dismiss-its-own-troops-stories-from-gaza-1.272406#

[Jefferson23]

4. kick