International High Level Military Group Commends Israel Defense Force’s “Scrupulous Adherence to Laws”

The High Level International Military Group [HLIMG] published preliminary findings of its inquiry into the conduct of the Israeli Defense Forces during its summer 2014 military operation in Gaza. The report is available on the web site of UN Watch. UN Watch is an organization dedicated to exposing and combatting the corruption of the United Nations human rights mission.

The HLIMG report concludes:

Our overall findings are that during “Operation Protective Edge” last summer, in the air, on the ground and at sea, Israel not only met a reasonable international standard of observance of the laws of armed conflict, but in many cases significantly exceeded that standard. We saw clear evidence of this from the upper to the lower levels of command. A measure of the seriousness with which Israel took its moral duties and its responsibilities under the laws of armed conflict is that in some cases Israel’s scrupulous adherence to the laws of war cost Israeli soldiers’ and civilians’ lives.

The Group’s findings refute and repudiate the findings of an inquiry by the United Nations Human Rights Council [UNHRC]. The UNHRC inquiry was headed by veteran anti-Israel activist William Schabas until he was forced to resign when it was revealed he was on the Palestinian payroll.

According to Hillel Neuer of UN Watch, the UNHRC is a key part of a bureaucratic infrastructure created at the UN that is dedicated to isolating and undermining the world’s only Jewish state. UN Watch recently observed, “The 47-nation body has condemned Israel in 80% of its country censures, in 20 of 25 resolutions.” Meanwhile, massive abusers of human rights like the governments of Sudan, North Korea and Iran receive only a fraction of the condemnation directed at Israel.

UN Watch criticized the council for elevating two of the worst human rights offenders, Iran and Saudi Arabia, to leadership positions in the UNHRC. The appointments make a mockery of the UN’s obligation to defend human rights worldwide.

In sharp contrast to the UNHRC inquiry, the HLIMG group found that “The measures taken [by the Israel Defense Forces] were often far in excess of the requirements of the Geneva Conventions. They sometimes placed Israeli lives at risk.”

Members of the High Level International Military Group are listed below:

Giulio Terzi – former Foreign Minister of Italy.
General Klaus Naumann – former Chief of Staff of the Bundeswehr and Chairman of the NATO Military Committee.
General Vincenzo Camporini – former Chief of the Defence Staff of Italy.
Admiral Jose Maria Teran – former Chief of the Joint Staff of Spain.
Ambassador Pierre-Richard Prosper – former US State Department Ambassador at Large for war crimes issues.
Mr Rafael Bardaji – former National Security Adviser for the Spanish government.
Lieutenant General David A Deptula – former Standing Joint Force Air Component Commander, United States Pacific Command.
Major General Jim Molan – former Chief of Operations, Headquarters Multi National Force, Iraq and Commander of the Australian Defence College.
Colonel Eduardo Ramirez – Member of Colombian Congress and former Chief of Security, Colombia.
Colonel Vincent Alcazar – former senior United States Air Force officer in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Colonel Richard Kemp – former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan