GOI LEGAL TEAM REVIEWING GOLDSTONE INVESTIGATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 002388 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2019 TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV KWBG IS SUBJECT: GOI LEGAL TEAM REVIEWING GOLDSTONE INVESTIGATION OPTIONS REF: A. TEL AVIV 2187 ¶B. TEL AVIV 2167 ¶C. TEL AVIV 2102 ¶D. TEL AVIV 2099 Classified By: DCM Luis G. Moreno, Reason 1.4 (b) (d) ¶1. (U) The GOI issued a communique October 27 on PM Netanyahu's decision to appoint a top-level legal team, headed by Attorney General Meni Mazuz, to "formulate recommendations on possible alternatives" regarding Israel's response to the Goldstone Report. Other members of the team include IDF Advocate General Major General Avichai Mendelblit, MFA legal adviser Ehud Keinan, Cabinet Secretary Eyal Gabai, and the MOD legal adviser. The team is to submit its recommendations "within a short time" to PM Netanyahu, Defense Minister Barak, Foreign Minister Lieberman, and Justice Minister Neeman. If the recommendations are approved by the four ministers, they will be submitted for Cabinet approval. ¶2. (C) PolCouns discussed the legal team October 29 with MFA Deputy Legal Adviser Daniel Taub and Deputy Director General for the UN and International Organizations Evyatar Manor. Manor explained that this is an ad hoc committee charged with reviewing the possible parameters and terms of reference of an independent investigation of the Goldstone report. It would also make a recommendation on whether such an investigation should be established as a state committee of inquiry or as an independent body. Taub said the legal team is "leaning toward" recommending an independent investigation, but he could not predict when it would make its recommendation nor how the PM and other key ministers would respond to it. ¶3. (C) Manor noted the strong opposition of Defense Minister Barak and IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. General Ashkenazi to an independent investigation due to their concern that such a decision would signal GOI lack of confidence in the integrity and credibility of the investigations being conducted or already concluded by the IDF, as well as concern that IDF morale could suffer from what could be perceived as a lack of GOI support for the military's actions in Cast Lead. An additional concern is the question of transparency, with the IDF arguing that if it releases the names of officers and soldiers under investigation, human rights NGO's would immediately demand war crimes prosecutions in countries that assert universal jurisdiction. Manor noted that while many Israeli legal experts believe the IDF should not investigate itself, the Israeli military justice system does provide for the review of all military justice investigations by the Attorney General and that all verdicts can be appealed to the High Court of Justice. ¶4. (U) MFA released an update October 29 on the status of the military investigations. The update noted that the military police are currently conducting twenty-seven criminal investigations related to Operation Cast Lead, while an additional twenty-seven incidents are still being reviewed by the relevant military commanders. Forty-five additional investigations have been concluded, with no further action recommended. As a result of the General Staff investigations conducted immediately after the operation at Lt Gen Ashkenazi's instructions, one IDF soldier and two officers (a colonel and a lt colonel) have been subjected to disciplinary hearings. The update also notes that of the thirty-six incidents mentioned in the Goldstone Report, twelve were previously unknown to the IDF and are now being investigated according to standard procedure. CUNNINGHAM