TEL AVIV, April 3, 2011 (WAFA) – Former Israeli member of parliament and peace activist Uri Avnery Sunday accused the government of
Israel’s 21-day military assault on Gaza, which started late in 2008, left over 1300 Palestinians dead, most of them civilians, and caused heavy damage to property.
Judge Richard Goldstone headed a UN fact finding mission, which found the Israeli army had committed war crimes during the
'In the Prime Minister's smug and self-satisfied speech there was not a single word of apology for the serious blunder to which Mr. Netanyahu is personally responsible: his decision not to cooperate with the Goldstone Commission, which resulted in the report being published as it was published, causing severe political damage to the State of Israel,” Avnery said in a statement.
'It seems that Mr. Netanyahu did not bother to read to the end the article published by Judge Goldstone, which made clear the damage caused to Israel by the Netanyahu Government's decision not to provide information to the commission,” he added.
Avnery, a Gush Shalom activist, said that “the clear lesson is for the government to stop regarding Israeli and international human rights organizations as an enemy to be fought and against which ever-new legislation should be introduced.'
He said that
'During three weeks the soldiers of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) killed 1300 Palestinians, a large part of them unarmed civilians, including hundreds of children. Even if it was not done on purpose, a country bears full responsibility for the actions of the soldiers it had sent to war. It is shameful to see the Prime Minister, when talking about that war, mumbling again the hollow mantra of 'the most moral army in the world'.'
M.A.
