UN names Gaza probe panel, headed by harsh Israel critic
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-gaza-conflict-2014/.premium-1.610046
Senior officials in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem said that for the two weeks following UNHRC’s decision to establish the commission, Israel has attempted to influence its composition. Israel asked the United States, Australia, Germany, Britain and other allies to help make the commission more balanced. According to senior ministry officials, Israel made clear that if the commission is balanced, Israel would not completely boycott it, and would be prepared to hold a dialogue with it and convey information relevant to the probe.
However, the Israeli efforts failed and the composition of the commission leans significantly toward the Palestinians.
Senior officials in the Foreign Ministry said that Israel could use the commission’s lack of balance to delegitimize it internationally, as was previously tried with the Goldstone Commission in 2009.
Israel started its delegitimization attempts less than an hour after the current appointments were announced.
