“HOW CAN ANYONE TRUST THE ISRAELI MILITARY?”

Already 20 years ago, Israelis expressed skepticism about official statements. Quoting from Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom:

[R]espected Israeli commentators have grown skeptical of Israeli government sources. “The state authorities, including the defense establishment and its branches,” Uzi Benziman observed in Haaretz, “have acquired for themselves a shady reputation when it comes to their credibility.” The “official communiqués published by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] have progressively liberated themselves from the constraints of truth,” B. Michael wrote in Yediot Ahronot, and the “heart of the power structure”—that is, the police, army, and intelligence—has been infected by a “culture of lying.” Sources: Uzi Benziman, “Until Proved Otherwise,” Haaretz (18 June 2006); B. Michael, “Of Liars and Hunters,” Yediot Ahronot (3 September 2005); B. Michael, “Stop the Lying!,” Yediot Ahronot (5 September 2008).

During Cast Lead, Israel was repeatedly caught misrepresenting, among many other things, its deployment of white phosphorus. (Kenneth Roth, “The Incendiary IDF,” Human Rights Watch (22 January 2009) As the invasion got under way, an IDF spokesman informed CNN, “I can tell you with certainty that white phosphorus is absolutely not being used,” while IDF chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, “The IDF acts only in accordance with what is permitted by international law and does not use white phosphorus.” Sources: Ben Wedeman, “Group Accuses Israel of Firing White Phosphorus into Gaza,” CNN (12 January 2009); Robert Marquand and Nicholas Blanford, “Gaza: Israel under fire for alleged white phosphorus use,” Christian Science Monitor (14 January 2009).

Even after numerous human rights organizations conclusively documented Israel’s illegal use of white phosphorus, an Israeli “military inquiry” persisted in these prevarications. Sources: B’Tselem, “Military Rejects Horrific Results of Use of White Phosphorus in Operation Cast Lead” (21 May 2009); see also Dinah PoKempner, “Valuing the Goldstone Report,” Global Governance 16 (2010).

A former senior Pentagon analyst and senior military analyst with Human Rights Watch (HRW), recalling Israel’s train of lies during both the 2006 Lebanon war and Cast Lead, rhetorically asked, “How can anyone trust the Israeli military?” Source: Amira Hass, “In the Rockets’ Red Glare,” Haaretz (15 January 2009).