Israel has yet to say whether or not it will cooperate with Goldstone’s investigation, though it would be pretty hard not to. Goldstone was a former prosecutor of the Yugoslav and Rwandan war crimes tribunals. He was also a famous anti-apartheid judicial activist in South Africa, in 1991 Nelson Mandela tapped him to chair a legal inquiry into human rights abuses committed by the South African government. This later became known as the Goldstone Commission. And though he is a South African, he has deep ties to Israel. (He is a trustee at Hebrew University). From the New York Times.
Goldstone said he was ”shocked, as a Jew,” to be invited to head the mission.
”It adds an additional dimension,” said Gladstone, who is on the board of governors at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. ”I’ve taken a deep interest in what happens in Israel. I’m associated with organizations that have worked in Israel. And I believe I can approach the daunting task that I have accepted in an evenhanded and impartial manner.”
It will be hard for critics to dismiss Judge Goldstone as some crank with a grudge, like some did to Richard Falk, the Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Rights. More to the point, Goldstone brings to this job a sterling reputation as an impartial voice whose enduring loyalty has been to international law and justice. A thorough accounting of what did and did not happen during Operation Cast Lead (and of course, of Hamas rocket attacks) can help serve as a foundation for a lasting peace in the region. Judge Goldstone is the perfect person to lead this kind of inquiry.