Joining the voices demanding an internal probe into the IDF�s actions during Operation Cast Lead are Prof. Moshe Halbertal and Prof. Avi Sagi, both members of the team which released the 1992 military code of ethics entitled �Spirit of the IDF�.

Prof. Halbertal recently published an article appearing in The New Republic, addressing the Goldstone report, and while he and his colleague do not agree with Goldstone�s findings, they feel an internal probe is warranted and the state should act accordingly. In the article entitled �The Goldstone Illusion,� Halbertal points out �Since the early 1990s, the nature of the military conflict facing Israel has been dramatically shifting. What was mainly a clash between states and armies has turned into a clash between a state and paramilitary terror organizations, Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north. This new form of struggle is now called �asymmetrical war.� It is defined by an attempt on the part of those groups to erase two basic features of war: the front and the uniform. Hamas militants fight without military uniforms, in ordinary and undistinguishing civilian garb, taking shelter among their own civilian population; and they attack Israeli civilians wherever they are, intentionally and indiscriminately�.

In his article, Halbertal stated the Goldstone fact-finders were determined to file an indictment against Israel, but this does not preclude an internal probe into allegations against Israel.

(Yechiel Spira � YWN Israel)