Israel Matzav: Ayalon: Democracies will stop Goldstone Report

Ayalon: Democracies will stop Goldstone Report

Part of this IBA broadcast is an interview with Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon in which Ayalon claims that the democracies of the world will prevent Israel from being harmed by the Goldstone Report because it's in their interest as well. I wish I could share his enthusiasm, but I don't see any way in the world that the Obama administration is going to use the veto to protect Israel from Goldstone.

Let's go to the videotape and then I'll have more. The Ayalon interview starts at the 0:45 mark.

Worse, our so-called allies, including the United States, Britain and France, are all pressing Israel to conduct 'credible investigations' into the Goldstone Report's allegations, as if the investigations conducted and being conducted to date are not credible, and as if there is any basis for the allegations made by the Goldstone Commission. If our putative allies are behaving that way, it is a matter for serious concern.

Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Alejandro Wolff said Washington had serious concerns about the report, including what he said was its "unbalanced focus on Israel." But he repeated the U.S. view that Israel should look into it.

"We take the allegations in the report seriously," he told the council. "Israel has the institutions and the ability to carry out serious investigations of these allegations and we encourage it to do so."

...

British Ambassador John Sawers called on Israel to launch proper investigations into the charges outlined in the report.

"We note that the Israeli Defense Force has already conducted and is continuing to conduct a number of investigations," Sawers said. "However, concerns remain."

"We urge the Israeli government to carry out full, credible and impartial investigations into the allegations," he added.

French Ambassador Gerard Araud urged both sides to initiate "independent inquiries in line with international standards."

UN Undersecretary-General Lynn Pascoe told the council that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also wanted "credible domestic investigations" based on the Goldstone report.

It is difficult to imagine the Obama administration exercising the United States' veto to spare Israel from the fallout of the Goldstone Report. Using the veto goes against Obama's entire internationalist conception of world relations. Moreover, the Obama administration did not share the Bush administration's enthusiasm for Operation Cast Lead. It insisted that the Operation be ended no later than Obama's inauguration coronation.

The best case scenario here may be that the United States abstains on a resolution that is so watered down as to be meaningless. The worst case is that it votes in favor of any resolution. The United States will do all it can to avoid having to exercise its veto. The Arabs may choose either path: They may try to force the United States to exercise the veto in order to embarrass it, or they may try to reach a consensus in the hope of getting something that can be used as a club against Israel.

What could go wrong? This time, I'm afraid that the answer is "an awful lot."

Israel Matzav: Ayalon: Democracies will stop Goldstone Report