There are two main ways to read the United Nations Human Rights Council report on Israel, Hamas and the 2014 Gaza war — a report in which Israel is blamed for possible war crimes.
One way is to deny it the merit of being read. That is to say, to read it without ever admitting to having read it. Israel should, of course, make its professionals read it, because that is the only way to know what’s in it and plan how to wage battle against it. But other than these professionals, no one else should want to read it, as everybody knows this is a worthless exercise in international hypocrisy and nothing more.
Another way is to read it carefully and judge it on a sentence-by-sentence, paragraph-by-paragraph, basis. This kind of reading made some Israelis appreciative of the fact the report is “not as bad” as previous reports. That is to say — very bad but not terrible. This kind of reading would also make others wonder about the assertions supportive of Hamas’ supposed right to build attack tunnels on the Gaza-Israel border.
Israel has consistently claimed this investigation has no legitimacy, the report has no legitimacy, and the council that initiated it is biased. Option one, then, is the Israeli option. There is no point in reading fiction that pretends to be nonfiction.
We need to be honest about one thing, however: Although Israel didn’t cooperate with the authors of the report, it did make sure to unofficially make its case. Reports found their way to the committee; nongovernmental organizations presented Israel’s arguments; and public appearances and publications by Israeli officials enabled the investigators to get a taste of the Israeli viewpoint.
In the coming days, the issue of cooperation will become, yet again, one of debate. Some officials believe Israel could score points by playing along and defending itself in front of such committees. Others think any
Israeli appearance would give credibility to the investigations — and that scoring a point in a game in which you know you will be defeated is a consolation prize unworthy of its price.
The U.N. investigation is not going to make the world a better place. It is not going to make another war between Israel and Hamas less likely. In fact, if Hamas is happy with the outcome of the investigation, it will make another war more likely — as the organization might be tempted to have another go at another investigation. The only possible outcome of the investigation — and that is the most troubling fact about it — is an erosion of Israel’s ability to act decisively when it is attacked. This means lengthier, bloodier, lawyered-up conflicts with no conclusive outcome. And when there’s no conclusive outcome, the parties are more likely to have another round of fighting.
There will also be a debate about the Israeli organizations that assisted the investigation. This is a delicate matter that I plan to write about later. The point that needs to be made now is the following: As troubling and annoying as these organizations can be, their actions are a reflection of Israel’s free society. This doesn’t mean that the government should not fight against them — it should. But it should also be careful to draw a line between a legitimate and necessary strategy aiming to disrupt the actions of hurtful organizations and an illegitimate attempt to make Israeli society less free. And don’t believe the hysterical complaints on both sides; not every move against these organizations represents the end of democracy — and not every action of every critical organization justifies total war.
Much like with the U.N. and its report, it is all a matter of trust. The question about Israel is whether you trust it or not (or trust it to a certain extent).
If you believe the Israel Defense Forces honestly, as a policy, try to not inflict harm on innocent people; if you believe Israel’s legal system is strong and capable of dealing with cases in which the rules were not followed; if you understand when a state goes to war, there will be cases that fall into a gray area, cases in which the conduct of soldiers could seem problematic after the fact but cannot easily be judged by those who weren’t at the scene; if you believe all of these, you will see no need for U.N. investigations.
However, if your view of Israel is so grim that you no longer trust its soldiers, officers, officials, lawyers, judges, politicians, coalition and opposition (you don’t see Israel’s opposition cheering the U.N. report); if you think Israel is even worse than the U.N. Human Rights Council (one of the worst international organizations out there); if that’s the case, there is little Israel can say about the report that would convince you it was a waste of time, money and paper.
The bottom line is simple: Unfortunately, Israel will probably have to go to war again in the future. Its aim is to win these wars. A positive report from the U.N. would be nice, too. But it seems that the only path for a positive report is to lose a war. That’s not a good enough proposition.
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