Israeli prosecutor seeking criminal investigation of Ben-Gvir seen as show for ICJ: Report
Israel’s state prosecutor Amit Aisman is reportedly seeking to open a criminal investigation into National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over his alleged incitement of violence against Palestinians in Gaza, The Times of Israel is reporting.
The investigation is reportedly symbolic, in part to demonstrate to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Israeli courts are taking action over alleged crimes since the World Court is required to step in only where national justice systems have not.
However, the newspaper points out that “none of the officials involved believe an investigation would result in an indictment, much less a conviction” of Ben-Gvir, who has parliamentary immunity
Before becoming one of the most powerful people in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Ben-Gvir had already been convicted of incitement to racism, supporting a “terror” organisation (the Kach group), possessing a “terror” organisation’s propaganda material and destroying property.
More recently he has overseen the deterioration of conditions for thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, with widespread allegations of torture and degrading treatment as well as a complete ban on outside visits, including from family and the Red Cross.
Israeli far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was already convicted of eight charges by Israeli courts, including racism towards Palestinians, before rising to become the security minister
The Israeli lobby has no shame
UN rapporteur says monitoring group’s allegation ‘beyond the pale’
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, has accused a monitoring group of going “beyond the pale” for falsely claiming the UN has opened an investigation into her conduct.
UN Watch is an NGO with the stated purpose of monitoring the performance of the UN, and has accused the world body of having an anti-Israel bias.
“They use an email from the UN which simply acknowledged the receipt of their complaint to falsely claim that the UN ‘has opened an investigation’ against me,” Albanese said of the organisation’s claims.
The special rapporteur was responding to a post by Canadian lawyer and UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer, in which he alleged that she “improperly took external funds from pro-Hamas groups to pay for her $20,000 lobbying trip to Australia”.
Neuer added that his organisation had filed papers to the UN to “terminate her mandate”.
Albanese said she welcomed a review of her mandate as she “never had, and will never have, anything to hide”.
I welcome any review of my mandate & all documents are available to the UN because I have never had, and will never have, anything to hide.
But the latest #UNWatch move is beyond the pale. They use an email from the UN which simply acknowledged the receipt of their complaint to… pic.twitter.com/5lxfsuSnzh
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) July 2, 2024
UN watch describes itself as "a nongovernmental organization that monitors the performance of the United Nations according to the yardstick of its charter and promotes human rights for all."
However it's a pro Israel lobbying group according to the Times of Israel
https://www.timesofisrael.com/pro-israel-watchdog-group-accuses-senior-un-official-of-trying-to-block-their-work/
US calls again on Israel to investigate use of Palestinians as ‘human shields’
US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel has described reports and video of Israel using Palestinians as human shields as “disturbing” and “a clear violation” of Israel’s “orders and procedures”.
“We call again Israel to swiftly investigate and ensure accountability for any abuses and violations,” Patel added, in response to a question from a reporter about recently reported videos showing Israeli forces using Palestinians as human shields in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Israeli soldiers tied an innocent Palestinian man, Mujahid Abadi, 24, to the front of their moving vehicle while he bled from gunshot wounds in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on June 22
Israel: "We're sorry, our voicemail inbox is full. Try again at our next war crime"
Seriously, none of these "investigations" have led to anything.
