It took only a month or so for the Israeli military to conclude its investigation into the deadly raid on the Freedom Flotilla and in particular, the Mavi Marmara. Given that the assault so outraged the world, alienated Israel’s allies and killed nine people, we would have thought it would take more than a few weeks to answer all the tough questions Israel is facing. But that, of course, is the point: Israel has no intention of answering inconvenient questions over an attack it feels entirely justified in carrying out.
That is why the Israeli government fought international investigations and sought to control the scope of any internal probes. It wanted no repeat of the UN investigation into human-rights abuses by the Israeli military and Hamas militants during the 2008 Gaza invasion – the so-called Goldstone report. It is why the final report issued yesterday employs so many generalities and muted criticisms.
The report was never designed in the first place to be a reckoning for a military that showed callous disregard for the lives of civilians. Rather, it was intended to appease Israeli’s allies and do just enough to quell the outrage in those countries, particularly the US.
Israel may succeed. Certainly, it has followed this same formula before, with a measure of success. But thankfully, times may be changing. With two other investigations still pending, it may no longer be so easy for top Israeli officials to shift the blame to low-ranking officials. Both the overwhelming use of force during assault on Gaza in late 2008 and the heavy-handed tactics during the boarding of the Mavi Marmara have created an international climate in which the same old pat answers may not be enough.
We hope that the world, especially the US, is not fooled by Israel’s transparent attempts to gloss over its abuses. It should be obvious to all that, at the very least, Israel no longer just mistreats the Palestinians, it reacts with the same callous disdain for the intelligence of all of its critics, no matter their nationality. Israel deserves international opprobrium, not forgiveness. And no half-hearted mea culpas will change that fact.
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