Daniel Taub, a senior legal adviser to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, sees three ways in which the Goldstone Commission failed in its mission to inquire into the conduct of the Israeli army and the Hamas terrorists engaged in the conflict in Gaza last winter. Released in late September, the report has been widely criticized as one-sided and overly solicitous of Hamas.
The report presents a “problematic narrative” that ignores Hamas’ role in the conflict and the missiles fired at Israel during eight years; represents a “full-frontal attack on Israel’s legal system” and any internal investigations the state has undertaken; and issues recommendations that focus exclusively on what Israel must do, including the criminal indictment of Israelis and a moratorium on Israel’s use of certain weapons, he told about 75 organizational leaders and delegates and attorneys active in JUF Lawyer's Division at the Oct. 13 JUF’s Jewish Community Relations Council meeting.
“The narrative presented is that Israel was engaged in a deliberate, massive attack directed against civilians to punish them,” he said via videoconference from Montreal, Canada. “As far as the report is concerned, Israel’s operation had nothing to do with Hamas firing missiles onto Israeli cities and villages.”
Taub, who is leading Israel’s legal and diplomatic efforts against the findings of the Goldstone Report, lamented the poor record of the U.N. Human Rights Council – which commissioned the report – when it comes to Israel. The Council is the successor to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, which was widely criticized for its one-sided anti-Israel resolutions, Taub said. While focusing on Israel, both the Commission and the Council have ignored human rights violations in neighboring states.
