Many of you have either already seen or heard of a list of 200 IDF officers who served in Operation Cast Lead. It is being circulated samizdat/Wikileaks-style around the internet as a starting point for criminal investigations of possible war crimes charges against those who served in the massacre. It appears the list was prepared by an Israeli Jew who served/s in the army. He or she explains his or her actions as follows:
Underlining the following people is an act of retribution and affront. They are the direct perpetrators, agents for the state of Israel that in Dec.- Jan. 2008- 2009 attacked scores of people in the besieged Gaza. The people listed here held positions of command at the time of the attack therefore not only did they perform on behalf of a murderous state mechanism but actively encouraged other people to do the same. They bear a distinctive personal responsibility. They range from low-level field commanders to the highest echelons of the Israeli army. All took an active and direct role in the offensive.
In underlining them we are purposefully directing attention to individuals rather than the static structures through which they operate. We are aligning people with actions. It is to these persons and others, like them, to which we must object and bring our plaints to bear upon [sic].
This information was pirated. We encourage people to seek out other such similar information, it is readily available in the public sphere and inside public officials’ locked cabinets. This is a form of resistance that can be effectively sustained for a long while.
This project for one, has only just begun, do your bit so that this virtual list may come to bear upon the physical.
I am only reluctantly and with a caveat linking to this document mostly because so many others already have and to withhold a link here seems almost pointless. While the list contains a lot of information, and likely very useful information, it has not been vetted carefully, and we’re not sure it all means what it claims. Maybe yes, maybe no. Here are some of the potential concerns:
1. can we prove all of these individuals did indeed serve in Cast Lead?
2. what tactical or strategic role did they play (that information is not provided)?
3. where did they serve in Gaza?
4. are we sure that all images match up with all names?
5. why are sergeants included? in my opinion a sergeant should not be included unless he or she participated in a specific act that should be investigated.
My final concern is that there are those on the other side who wait for us to make a mistake. That’s why it’s important that we know what we’re talking about before we act. And in this case, we don’t know enough yet. This list could be a fabrication or partial fabrication. Or it could be the real thing. If the latter, it should only be the beginning of a process of exploration and exposure.
Personally, whoever put together this list needs a lot more expertise from soldiers who actually served to pinpoint the information. As much as possible, the role officers played in the fighting needs to be specified. Given that they’re taking a relatively scatttershot approach to dragging everyone through the mud, I’m not sure they’ll get the kind of cooperation they’re calling for.
The list is just becoming widely known in Israel and it’s safe to say it’s causing great disquiet. There are even those on the left in Israel who are uncomfortable with this notion (not that this is a reason not to do it). Combat veterans anti-Occupation groups like Combatants for Peace and Breaking the Silence won’t touch it since they seek to build bridges to IDF veterans and not threaten them with war crimes convictions.
Traditionally, the private contact information, home addresses, ID numbers of senior officers are closely guarded secrets not just for personal privacy reasons but for security reasons. This leak marks a serious break with such tradition. And as an Israeli friend of mind wrote to me, it puts the leaker into considerable jeopardy. He or she has become the Bradley Manning of Israel.
Check out my Facebook wall for a picture of an object that may be relevant to assessing the veracity of the information:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=523794418
Sorry to be talking in riddles but I’m being even more careful in regard to this information. If any of your readers can identify the object, I will appreciate it.
How can I contact you, Sol? (We have a friend in common, perhaps through them?)
I think we have more than one friend in common. If you are not on Facebook try ssalbe at westnet dot com dot au
Combatants for Peace is not a human rights organization, but an Israeli-Palestinian peace movement that seeks to achieve a just peace by ending Israeli occupation and violence on both sides. It is not the role of CFP to bring to trial alledged war criminals, be them Israeli or Palestinians. CPF aims to adrress audiences on both sides and getting involved in this is going to undermine these efforts.
I’ve approached representatives for CfP and Breaking the Silence & they’ve noted their opposition to such efforts. I’ve changed the sentence in this post that mentions these groups to note this.
But frankly, I don’t see how you can do the work that either group does without recognizing a human rights component to it along with a component recognizing the importance of adherence to international law.
Please do not manipulate fact and turn this website into Anti-Israel propaganda. Additionally, do not quote the Torah when justifying putting the lives of Heroic jews in danger. Your website is an attempt to demonise and delegitamise Israel in every sense of the word. If this was a website made with the intention of reconciling Jews and Arabs it would not falsify fact and only rebuke one side.
No, I’m afraid the IDF’s ravaging of Gaza is what is anti-Israel propaganda and I had nothing to do with that.
What better time to quote Torah than when talking about moral accountability for one’s actions and taking responsibility to fight evil in the world, whether it be evil perpetrated by Jews or by others.
Blah, blah, blah. Who are you? Danny Ayalon’s stock broker? Or Rabbi Yosef’s astrologer?
# Ignorant)
At least you’re rignt abour your pseudo !
“Heroic Jews” that’s what your call people who drop White Phosphorus on innocent civilians ?
As long as this list does not contain any mention of wrongdoings by the soldiers on the list, nor evidence that they where in any way involved in such actions – calling them them war criminals is simply libel and should be treated us such.
Furthermore, even if we assume that all those on the list participated in “Cast Lead” ( which is clearly not the case by the some of their job descriptions), claiming they were all involved in war crimes is ridiculous.
Bottom line: Fighting in a war does not make one a war-criminal unless you can prove he or she was involved or knowingly commanded actions prohibited in the Geneva conventions.
nathaniel, the problem i that Gaza was not a “war”. It was a punitive action executed in the way Roman legionnaire did back in the day against “unruly” people who dared not to pay tribute. As such, all who were involved in any way in the atrocities of Gaza, whether in a direct or indirect capacity are beholden for the crimes of all.
Everyone who served in or around Gaza is complicit from the lowest level “engineer” who made the planes run on time to carry out phosphor rain missions to the highest levels of criminality like this Ashkenazi assassin – a modern day pontius pilatus, and the entire cadre of hit men. Truth is, Israeli armed force act with the impunity of the mafia, and should be treated with respect accorded to the mafia. o no, they were not “soldiers” fighting for a caue; thee were execution quads deployed with great precision to inflict maximum damage on civilians.
I disagree with Richard here. I am all for naming names and showing the faces. yes, they are all guilty of crime until proven innocent, because this IS the yard stick with which we judge war criminals and mafioso, and that include the Don’s receptionist and his driver. Wan’t Oama’ driver in Guantanamo? is he till not there? Let each and every one of the Israeli cossacks prove or put forth their own claim to being otherwise. Let the ones who feel they were unfairly impugned join breaking the silence and/or vow publicly their disapproval of the atrocities of cast Lead.
I looked at those picture and am overwhelmed disgust. The face of evil come in many forms, indeed. And I see no reason we, a citizen of the world should not cast them out and, if possible arrest them anywhere they go to.
The reality is far more complex then the one you choose to describe and it’s a shame you choose to oversimplify it.
Claiming everyone is guilty is tantamount to claiming everyone is equally innocent – effectively absolving those who should be tried for their actions.
I don’t know what country you’re writing from, but I’ll safely guess that by your all encompassing criteria the majority of your country’s servicemen should be tried for war-crimes as well. Luckily, international law doesn’t work that way.
As bad as the US is – and it acted extremely badly in invading Iraq and destroying the country – at the urging of Israel and its neoconitas allies in the US, dare I say, they did not target deliberately civilian center as Israel does routinely, in the west bank, for example. And as it did in Gaza.; The difference here is INTENT. And the intent in israel – possibly by a majority of its citizens – is evil. They basically want to get rid of all their Arabs, if they could, and some day they’ll try just that.
Bottom line is this: if you are an israeli soldier and you agree to serve in the west bank, or you agreed to go to Gaza, you are to be judged with the same yardstick as the camp commander and foot soldiers. Ye, there’ that defense of “I wa following order”, known a you know whose.
A for my country, the US, it is not attempting to colonize Iraq or Afganistan, though yes, they too act as Roman Legionnaires, using mercenaries (“contractor”) as well as relatively ill-educated soldiers, the majority of whom join the armed forces a a way out of poor and/or rural circumstances. Ours is, by no mean, a citizen’s army, though we pretend it is. A a result, most soldiers really believe they are fighting for a good cause – until some learn otherwise, a many vet will tell you. Hopefully, some day, the real guilty parties, like of Bush, cheney and the neocon cadre of zionist enabler and war puhsers like Feith and Elliott will face justice, and then some, both for being traitors and for being plain evil. These creatures are indeed the parallel of everything bad in Israel – no wonder they are on the same side.
I feel dirty writing this, but accusing israel for american crimes is borderline antisemitic. We have our own crimes to deal with, we don’t need the blame for your crimes too.
You can’t clear your conscious by wiping it on us.
Are you actually claiming that all american war crimes in iraq and afghanistan are ACCIDENTS?? The US is no different from israel. Same greed, same racism. Only one diffrence – the US, it seems, is cleaning up it’s act, while here in israel it’s only getting worse.
Sorry duck, but it is well documented who and what got the U to demolish Iraq. I assume you heard about the neocon and the PNAC document, most of whose signatories were jewish. I was in the US when day and night – on my TV – the Israeli consul and a host of Israeli operatives like gaffney, jonah goldberg and that other goldberg – the wanna be pretend atlantic journalist. all supposedly american, but not really (whom I will not even drape with the ill-fitting dual loyalty label, unless by dual we mean to Israel and to their own pocket books) they have only one loyalty – to Irael), all calling for invading Iraq and killing all those people. We all know why and we can all connect the dots. many have aid that this was a war for israel – ask Tom Friedman, if you don’t believe it. That’s what Feith, Eliott, wolfowitz, Pearl and the rest of the traitors were involved in – concocting a lie about WMD that smells to high heaven – right where the Laban yellow cake is.
Just like they are now trying to do to Iran – dragging America kicking and creaming into some ill-conceived military adventure which – a israel would have it, involve murdering countless Iranians.
To this day, the evil ones I named above, those disgusting slime balls, are walking free as are those Israeli operatives in the US, with their consul-general titles, beating the war drum and making sure that their own narrow-minded Islamophobia catches fire (at least on Fox).
It is, I’m afraid, not anti-semitic to tell the truth and Israel has done horrific things, and is now busily contaminating the US with the same racist poison that’ taken over their own sick society. This canard jut won’t fly any more, borderline or not..
KICKING AND SCREAMING????
Are you out of your mind???
I guess bush never wanted to be a war president, the neocons never wanted all that oil, cheney isn’t a murderus bastard and all those sadistic christian boys tearing iraq apart are just misguided.
It’s all those damn jews!
This is disgusting.
Cheney et al used the neocon Jews & they used the Cheneyites. It was a relationship of convenience. You can’t deny there is a pro-Israel element to the neocon mission & that this is fueled at least in part by the way many of these ieologues interpret their Jewishness (to be pro Israel).
Dana, you are letting the U.S. and those who man its war machine off the hook much, much too easily.
Duck, I’m more in agreement than disagreement with you on U.S. war crimes, but I don’t see the U.S. cleaning up its act all that well.
As far as the accusation of anti-Semitism is concerned, come on! That’s just too easy and cheap. Find a more convincing way to object to comments about Israel that you find unfair.
There are atleast some signs in the US of people getting tired of murder and war, while in israel it’s getting much much worse. If bibi killed a couple thousand civilians these days, he would be called a coward by the public for not killing enough.
As for antisemitism – usually this is a cheap trick, but here I see what these claims can lead to. This is an attempt to blame american jews for american problems. If ever the american public regrets these invasions they would have american jewery as the fall guy, and this is unnacceptable.
I agree with every word!
I don’t know why we can’t reply to those who reply to others, but, I just want to say to “duck”, that you have it all wrong.
Feith and Wolfowitz invited their Israeli friends to the Office of Special Plans in the Pentagon. Israel was very much involved in the fabrication of intelligence and much more.
So, it’s not very nice to label someone anti-Seminitic like you did with Dana, just because you don’t have your facts straight.
I have no doubt that israel and american jews had a part in creating the invasion.
I doubt, however, that they had the main part, and even if they did, they are very, very, far from having all the blame.
Trying to absolve the US of all responsibility by throwing it at the jews IS close to antisemitic.
I can’t vouch for the motives or thinking of others but it certainly isn’t mine. It’s a confluence of agendas that brought this to fruition. The Jewish neocons didn’t do this singlehandedly nor did the Bush-Cheney chicken hawks. they needed ea. other & exploited ea. other–willingly. But the efforts put forth by Kristol, Feith, Perle, Wolfowitz, et al were skanky & done at least in some part with a mind to helping Israeli interests.
“I can’t vouch for the motives or thinking of others but it certainly isn’t mine. It’s a confluence of agendas that brought this to fruition. The Jewish neocons didn’t do this singlehandedly nor did the Bush-Cheney chicken hawks. they needed ea. other & exploited ea. other–willingly. But the efforts put forth by Kristol, Feith, Perle, Wolfowitz, et al were skanky & done at least in some part with a mind to helping Israeli interests.”
Probably all true. But that is far from placing ALL the blame on israel and none of the blame on the US. That sort of talk is dangerously close to “jews stabbing the nation in the back”.
Disclaimer – I am far from taking the US off the hook for war crime in Iraq and Afganistan. If I could I’d nominate Assange for the Nobel peace price. Neither am I implying that ALL neocons are zionists (as opposed to Jewish, or plain Americans). I do however see Jewish and zionist as conflicting loyalties as I do zionism and americanism.
I agree with Richard there wa a confluence of interets about destroying Iraq, but I am choosing to emphaize the fact that the network of Israeli agents (which is what people like Feith and Perle are and were) was critical in getting the evil deed done. They acted first and foremost at the behest of Israel, a woefully misguided Irael, I’d add, boltsered by some notions of might make right, ie, empire uber ales. If there’ an argument to be made here it’ in the nature of chicken or egg coming first.
But when it come to justice, I hope I made it clear that I view the direct engineers of Iraq destruction as responsible, as well as those generals who executed the kill orders, with not too many innocents in between.
A for the American servicemen and women in the field, many may be guilty of callousness or even criminal negligence and in the case of Falluja, probably worse. But it was only a relatively few troops who did evil with the razor edge precision that Israeli participants in cast lead and their many enablers and cheerleaders on the side lines did. So there you have it in a nut shell: callounesness sliding into occasional criminality for the Americans (which sometimes gets prosecuted). Direct, intentional murder, mayhem and destruction for the Israelis.
This remind me BTW of comparisons I saw some people make (not me) between internment camp and concentration camps. There’s a difference, to be sure, but that’ for another day, another time.
Say what??
Come on, Richard, the logic is obvious! It’s like saying that claiming that everything is black is tantamount to saying everything is equally white. NOW do you get it?
Are you guys sure that this list will not be used as a hit list? As soon as it’s public on the net, you can never know what lunatic reads it….
A crime must be investigated, proven, judged and prosecuted, by authorized bodies.
Compiling an arbitrary list of names and personal details is counter-productive.
This is not the way to do it.
Were these not part of the mafia force masquerading a an army? why would anyone care of the hit men are hit in return. If they had any connection with atrocity of gaza, they are complicit. At the very least it give u all objects for contempt. Personally, I’d rather see them all put on trial in the Hague. Since that’s not going to happen we at least have face to put with the evil of Gaza.
Good for the wikileaks of Israel –
All I’m saying is nobody seems to know who exactly most of these people are. Maybe they are guilty of something, maybe not. Maybe they are just innocent bystanders.
There is a proper procedure for punishing criminals, and this list is not part of it.
And yes, I care if innocent people get hit.
But what can be done for the innocent of Gaza, the children, who were already hit? who will bring their killers to justice?
your right! we should go around blaming people without proof because we cant do anything else? or is it that we should take it up a notch, kill them while we’re at it. clearly they deserve it for being in the army in the first place
What a sharp incisive comment. Thanks for advancing the discussion…Yuck.
Are you for real?
Maybe we should just stop prosecution of criminals altogether, lest they should be put in harms way…
no, but how about we bring them to court?
I think that was the point, no?
A link that does work. the original website is off.
http://s242816488.onlinehome.us/criminals/
This list is ridiculous and likely constructed using Facebook, Google and Reshumon.
Take a look at the list. It’s completely random and stupid. Some of the listed persons were likely not in charge of anything more than ordering food to their respective bases. This is a completely non-issue and should not be getting any attention. I’m really baffled as to why anyone treats it seriously. I was actually looking to see if I’d find my own picture there. That’s how random it is.
I’m sure most of the information is legit, but still, it is rather pointless. At the very least I can confirm Gabi Ashkenazi’s address (we live 5 minutes apart). This is nothing more than a careless violation of privacy.
“This is nothing more than a careless violation of privacy.”
And dangerous one too.
Oooh, scary. We’re very, very naughty & promise not to do it again.
The author of the list asked for confirmation as to whether any of thee individual served in Gaza. If they did, they are guilty of war crimes, even if they were employed a cooks or drivers. Because they were part of the massacre machine.
You can see what the problem is: since not one of the guilty Israeli soldiers who unleashed murder and mayhem on Gaza (all few thousands of them, including the murderous phosphor dropping pilots) will be brought to justice, and since israeli still don’t seem to think that Gaza was an atrocity, they run the risk of everyone being considered guilty.
For example, what have you done, if you are an Israeli to dissociate yourself from the crime of Gaza? from the wanton murder of children and the destruction of property? If you took some action, no matter how mall, absolution is your. But if you, like the 90% of Israeli who till don’t think Gaza was a crime, then – yes, your privacy is the price. A mall one too….
By your logic, there are tens of thousands of war criminals who had the choice between being labeled as such (again, by people who use your faulty, laughable logic), and going to military prison.
War criminal represent.
London & Kirshenbaum covered this story, there’s some more info there (Hebrew): http://lnk.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleId=759865&sid=182
As I said before, the list has little to do with Cast Lead. Some people in the list did not even serve during the operation.
There are hundrends of thousands of israelies who support cast lead fully. They are all guilty of actively supporting war crimes. The hunderds of thousands more who don’t care are also guilty for not speaking up.
However, it is important that those with the greatest guilt are singled out and acted against.
No matter how much I speak up, regardless of the steps I took to ensure my service in the IDF is as far away from supporting the war machine as I can, history will judge me guilty.
How will it judge YOU?
Oh and by the way, the white phosphorus was fired from artillery guns, not dropped from planes…
the website was removed/censored. can be found now here:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:fBIoPMbVkWQJ:israeliwarcriminals.zzl.org/+http://israeliwarcriminals.zzl.org/&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=safari
My thoughts from reading the list:
1) A few of the people in the list probably have nothing to do with war crimes, other than serving in the IDF. Mostly instructors and such.
2) The list lacks the biggest bastards of them all: pilots. Not that we can expect to flush those out any time soon.
3) The list has three groups standing out: Paratroopers, combat engineers and field intelligence. Members of all three groups in the list also seem to come from very specific units. This could mean that the writers knows of specific crimes done by these units in those groups.
4) The list oddly includes members of the navy. How big is their role in cast lead?
I saw at least one pilot in there. But likely you’re right & there should be more.
I can’t find any pilots, although the list does have the majority of the IAF’s high command. While these people are mostly pilots, they didn’t actually drop any bombs in cast lead.
Of notable culpability are lieutenant colonel Yizhar Yona and brigadier general Avishay Levi, as both have important roles in picking targets for air attacks.
Here is the IAF brass I could find:
Number 131: Ronen Dan, commander of Tel Nof AFB
110: Nimrod Sheffer, Air Force commander
86: Itay Reis: commander of Palmachim AFB
79: Ilan Boger: commander Ramat Aviv AFB
78: Ido Nechushtan, air force commander
56: Eliezer Shkedi, air force commander
45: Eden Nachias: commander Nevatim AFB
25: Avishai Levy, air force intelligence
11: Ariel Brickman, Hazor AFB
This sounds like someone who has served in the Air Force…? Let’s add those two to the list.
Richard,
I’m sceptical of this list. Shkedi for example was seven months gone from the Air Force and the military as a well when Cast Lead started. He may have been the bloke who’s responsible for the war plan and who knows what but we can deduce without some sort of evidence. And this list lacks evidence or even specific accusations. I’m afraid the list as all is of little value.
Actually, it’s quite valuable. My Israeli sources & I couldn’t have IDed Yehuda HaCohen in my post today w/o it. So if used judiciously, the List can be quite valuable.
As I said, lots of brass, but none of the actuall killers.
Also:
65. Gil Shen, Commander of “Maga Hakesem” Helicopter Unit (may have seen action in cast lead)
172. Yehu Ofer, Commander of Sde Dov AFB
182. Yochanan Locker, Airforce Chief of Staff
Note:
68. Guy Givoni, Artillery Coordination officer.
I’m guessing this means he played a part in sending targets for shelling.
Don’t disagree with your remark re judicious use as an investigating tool. But there are those who think the list has a congruous relationship to those liable to be charged on the basis of the Goldstone report and they would be wrong.
The moral of the story is that vigilantism will (or may) occur in the absence of official justice.
The UNFFMG (Goldstone) report indicated war crimes and crimes against humanity had probably occurred in Gaza. What has happened in the year since it was released? Stonewalling all round. Goldstone is a jewish jew-hating nazi. Congress cheerleading for Israel as usual.
Israel submitted it’s second report to the UN in July confirming many of the Goldstone Report’s most damning findings. Since then? Nothing.
—–
So I used the word vigilantism. I’ve read comments this is presented as a hit-list. The statement by the list compiler is ambiguous, but I think to assume that is presumptuous. It’s yet to be seen what is done with the information.
One of the standard responses to the BDS campaign has been to “name and shame” participants:
““Wherever you see misinformation, point it out,” she urged. “Name and shame these individuals. Name and shame these journalists. Name and shame these academics, name and shame the campaigners for the BDS movement.””
http://jewishnews.net.au/news/2010/09/02/israels-battle-on-our-doorsteps/15230
Isn’t this list an exercise in “name and shame”?
“Isn’t this list an exercise in “name and shame”?”
It’s actually “name without shame”.
What’s missing from this list is another column clearly stating the crime this particular individual committed. Otherwise, what we have here is a random list of persons with their personal details.
As far as I understand from the Israeli press, some of them were not even there.
If you want to target “individuals rather than the static structures”, you have to relate to the crimes of individuals, which are of different degree. Shoplifting is not the same as murder.
Besides, I strongly doubt only some 200 individuals committed crimes during the “Cast Lead”.
All this makes this list a half-assed job.
Everything has mostly been said. This project is off mark, and unfortunately does the opposite of it’s aim and makes light of war crimes.
Why does the public need their home address? It’s a fear tactic, it has nothing to do with holding individuals accountable for their violations during cast lead. If they violated international law, they should be indicted in a court of law. That is what we expect, the law to be upheld.
It seems like a very arbitrary list. Random sergeants who served in non-combat instructional roles have no place on that list. Unless you are making a sweeping claim against the entire IDF, which is fine, but then you can’t point at specific people.
Dare I say it’s completely irresponsible to “leak” (nothing here but names and numbers) lists with pictures and addresses of people- something that we rightly abhorred, when our activist were targeted (see the JDL “S.H.I.T list, for example”, where many of us “star”). If ethics are what stand before our every action, we should act consistently.
Furthermore, there’s no serious proof of anything, here. We do nothing for the movement when we act unethically and irresponsibly. If this list has anything to do with reality and the leaker has intention of making case of criminality, it’s important to all of us that its case is presented in a way that it can’t be chucked out as hearsay (let alone slander).
Good luck to leaker in reworking the document as something that could be taken seriously in a court of law.
I too was skeptical at first about the list. But now I’ve come to see the value in it esp. since even the IDF admits this is based on internal IDF information.
So you’re wrong, Tali for a number of reasons. First, unlike Masada2000 which lists Jews based on their signing anti-Occupation petitions, these 200 acc. to internal IDF documents actually played roles, some vital roles in Cast Lead, which you & most of us concur was likely a major war crime. So this list is something like the Goldstone Rpt. in that it doesn’t establish guilt, but it allows researchers to use it to connect other evidence to establish guilt.
A perfect example is my post on Lt. Col. Yehuda HaCohen who is being investigated for approving the killings of the al Samouni clan during Cast Lead. The IDF was investigating him but no one knew this until the list came out & we could connect the name of his command with previous media rpts about the killings.
In addition, I’ve been using the list to cross reference members of it who’ve defending Cast Lead publicly. If they want to publicly defend a possible war crime, I’m not above using this list to unmask information about them.
I wouldn’t send anyone hate mail, but do you think receiving a message like the one noted here is too big a price to pay for participating willingly in a war crime??
If you haven’t already, read my posts on this subject.