Do not compare IDF to terrorists, says Livni

Zionist Union co-leader Tzipi Livni says the UN report “was born in sin by a commission that attacks Israel systematically,” referring to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Commission, which appointed the special commission that penned the report on Operation Protective Edge.

“We will not accept a comparison between terrorists and IDF soldiers. We will not agree that IDF soldiers and terrorists will be mentioned in the same breath and this distinction is important for any country fighting terrorism. IDF soldiers are fighting terrorists, even if sometimes civilians are hurt. Terror organizations do not discriminate and kill civilians and soldiers. And it makes no difference if it’s Daniel Tragerman or Danny Gonen who was murdered on Friday in Dolev. That’s the aim of terror.”

She is referring to the murder of a Lod resident near the West Bank community of Dolev over the weekend and the death of a young boy from a projectile in a kibbutz in the western Negev last summer.

Livni emphasizes: “We will not accept the fact that the world investigates [the conduct of] IDF soldiers. Israel is a democracy with a strong justice system and mechanisms to check itself. The world must respect what we are doing ourselves and stop lookiing to [tarnish the image of] Israel, whether it be by a UN report or at the [International Criminal] Court at The Hague.”

Livni served as justice minister during the campaign. She was foreign minister during Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s war with Gaza at the end of 2008.