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Israel Fears U.N. Jenin Mission May Be a 'Setup' |
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By Ellis Shuman TEL AVIV, Apr 25, 2002 -- Israel's government decided Tuesday that it would postpone its cooperation with the United Nation's fact-finding team to the Jenin refugee camp until the team's composition was changed and questions over the mandate of its activities were resolved. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan agreed to postpone the departure of the team to hear Israeli arguments, but called on its members to begin their work in the camp by Saturday. Israeli officials expressed concern that statements made by Annan and the fact that two of the three members appointed to the team were veterans of humanitarian work, and possibly biased against Israel, amounted to a "setup to accuse Israel of war crimes." The decision to postpone cooperation with the team was made by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and senior Defense Ministry and Foreign Ministry officials. Yesterday, cabinet secretary Gideon Sa'ar said there were "worrying signs" that the fact-finding team was overstepping its parameters and suggested that Israel could block the team from entering the Jenin refugee camp if it believes the fact-finding team is not abiding by its mandate. Sharon said yesterday that Israel had no choice but to accept the United Nations fact-finding team to the Jenin refugee camp, as it was "the lesser of two evils." But Sharon expressed his fear for the kind of result the team would produce, Israel Radio reported. Israel objected to Annan's comments at a news conference on Monday that the team would "present [its] findings and conclusions," which seemed to deviate from the Security Council's resolution that the mission was to "develop accurate information regarding recent events in the Jenin refugee camp through a fact-finding team." Annan also said the team would "focus on Jenin to begin with," while the Security Council had specified only the Jenin camp. "The secretary general went past the spirit and decision of the Security Council, which did not say that the fact-finding team can come to a conclusion," said a senior Foreign Ministry official, quoted in the New York Times. "His terms of reference made it more of an investigation, and he did it very fast, without consulting Israel." Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Yehuda Lancry met with Annan to present Israel's case that the fact-finding team "should be more balanced and should include military and counter-terrorist experts." Lancry said, "The mandate of the fact-finding team should also cover not only the military operation of Israel, but the terrorist network which has flourished in the Jenin refugee camp and which, in fact, generated the Israeli military operation." Annan agreed to a short delay in the UN mission to review Israel's requests, but "expects the team to be in the Middle East by this Saturday," a statement from his office said. The secretary general said he would not discuss his choice of team members but considered adding experts "as might be deemed necessary." Annan reportedly agreed to Israel's request that the status of retired U.S. general William Nash be upgraded from military advisor to full member of the fact-finding team, Israeli media sources reported. Israel: team members are "political" Israeli officials are unhappy with the fact that the other members of the committee are political officials, and not military officers who can discern what really happened in the eight days of intense fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen within the crowded, urban conditions of the refugee camp. On Monday, Annan selected Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland, to head a team that included Sadako Ogata, a former United Nations high commissioner for refugees, and Cornelio Sommaruga, a former head of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Ahtisaari told reporters yesterday that both Nash and police advisor Peter Fitzgerald of Ireland were full-fledged members of the team. Lancry denied that Israel had "specific objections" to the members appointed to the team, but Israeli government sources fear that the backgrounds of Ogata and Sommaruga may make them biased in favor of the charges of international aid workers. Media sources reported Israel's serious objections to the appointment of Sommaruga, who served as head of the Red Cross from 1987 to 1999. In an article written by Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer two years ago, Sommaruga was quoted as saying, "If we're going to have the Shield of David (as an accepted symbol for relief workers), why would we not have to accept the swastika?" But Israeli Foreign Ministry legal adviser Alan Baker, who was present at the time of Sommaruga's remarks, said that using them to portray the Red Cross president as having an anti-Jewish bias was "a vile manipulation of something said in a different context," the Jerusalem Post reported. Sommaruga, a 70-year-old Swiss citizen whose father saved Jews during the Holocaust, insisted that these comments were taken out of context. Diplomatic sources said that he is fair towards Israel, but very critical of its policies in the Palestinian territories, Yediot Aharonot reported. © Israel Insider, 2002. All rights reserved. Distributed in partnership with Globalvision News Network (www.gvnews.net). |
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