Zamir recants; troops want investigation

Even as Danny Zamir protests, IDF reservists who served in Operation Cast Lead are asking Israeli's attorney general to investigate Ha'aretz for publishing the accounts of supposed "war crimes" without adequately checking their veracity.

The letter, signed by 65 reservists who served in Operation Cast Lead, sent the letter to Mazuz on Monday and asked that he launch an investigation against Haaretz on charges of slander for reporting on the testimonies as if they were fact and not hearsay.

"It appears to us that Haaretz did not do the minimum of checking before reporting false accusations," the letter read.

"We are fed up with being called murderers and war criminals," said Amit Barak, who initiated the letter. "We will not tolerate being treated this way after as reservists we contribute to the state and come to serve in the IDF. We expect the state to stand up for us, its soldiers."

I am sypathetic to this request. The irresponsibility of Ha'aretz continues today. However, I can't believe that the Attorney General would be able to take any action against Ha'aretz. Unless Ha'aretz could be shown to have been in violation of the law or libeled someone specific, it will be free to be irresponsible. That's the nature of press freedom. Unfortunately.

Both Backspin and CAMERA wonder if Zamir's regrets will get the play his charges got. Israel Matzav is skeptical that Zamir regrets what he did, but is rather concerned with keeping his pre-military academy going.

I hardly expect the media to cover Zamir's regrets. Dion Nissenbaum at his blog, both failed to note that the Israeli investigation found out that the allegations were unsubstantiated hearsay.

Nissenbaum quoted the Ha'aretz reporter, as if this were grounds for conviction:

"When statements came only from Palestinian witnesses or 'the hostile press,' it was possible to dismiss them as propaganda that served the enemy," Haaretz journalist Amos Harel wrote in his analysis of the allegations. "But what can be done when the soldiers themselves tell the story?"

Nissenbaum even followed up with two more posts about "war crimes," and continued to suggest that there was something to the allegations even after the IDF investigation. Now that Zamir is apparently recanting, will Nissenbaum acknowledge that he's been giving too much attention to rumors?

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.