by Stephen Lendman

Israel responded as expected to the UN Commission of Inquiry's (COI) report on last summer's Gaza aggression (Operation Protective Edge).

The whole world knows it waged preemptive dirty war without mercy on 1.8 million Gazans trapped under its illegal blockade.

It bore FULL responsibility for mass slaughter and destruction - including willfully murdering noncombatant men, women, children, infants, the elderly and infirm.

Its three Gaza wars of aggression since December 2008 are some of history's great crimes. Its culpable government and military officials remain unaccountable because US and key European leaders turn a blind eye to its atrocities. A separate article discussed the UN's COI report - accusing Israel of war crimes, unjustly blaming Palestinian fighters as well, ignoring their courageous self-defense against overwhelming odds.

Netanyahu's bluster makes him sound buffoon-like. No one with any knowledge of reality takes him seriously.

He lied saying "(t)he report is biased. Israel is not perpetrating war crimes but rather protecting itself from an organization that carries out war crimes. We won’t sit back with our arms crossed as our citizens are attacked by thousands of missiles."

The Human Rights Council "does everything but worry about human rights. The commission spends more time condemning Israel than Iran, Syria and North Korea put together."

Israel's Foreign Ministry turned truth on its head saying the report "was commissioned by a notoriously biased institution, given an obviously biased mandate, and initially headed by a grossly biased chairperson, William Schabas."

COI "was politically motivated and morally flawed from the outset…It is regrettable that the report fails to recognize the profound difference between Israel’s moral behavior during Operation Protective Edge and the terror organizations it confronted."

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely absurdly claimed Israeli forces took measures "without parallel" to safeguard Palestinian civilian lives when the whole world knows otherwise. Mountains of damning evidence prove top Israeli government and military officials culpable of high crimes against peace.

Not according to Hotovely, absurdly claiming "(t)he state of Israel and the IDF scrupulously abide by the highest standards of international law."

"From the outset, the purpose of this report was to vilify the state of Israel and the IDF, with the ultimate aim of undermining Israel’s right to defend its citizens from attack."

COI "has completely discredited itself through its obsessive and prejudicial preoccupation with Israel, while turning a blind eye to genuine violations of human rights around the world."

Education Minister/notorious racist Naftali Bennett called COI's investigation "a report with blood on its hands, because it permits the killing of Jews. (I)t ties our soldiers' hands, (preventing them) from defending the residents of the south and the entire state."

Zionist Union opposition head Isaac Herzog lied like Netanyahu, absurdly calling the IDF "a moral military, and I don't need any international report or commission to know this."

Other Israeli officials made similar comments as expected. Its longstanding dirty game is blaming victims for its high crimes.

Facts speak for themselves. Other independent investigations into last summer's war condemned Israeli naked aggression. Indisputable evidence proves it and then some.

Israel is a rogue terror state. Its sordid history is blood-drenched. No amount of claims otherwise change things.

Perhaps one day its culpable officials will end up behind bars where they belong. It won't soothe Palestinians' pain and suffering from the loss of loved ones.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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