Israel Defence Forces

Just when coverage of Israel in much of the broadcast media couldn’t seem any more spiteful and misleading – the slippage into the mainstream of slurs like “genocide” and “famine”, for instance, neither of which are remotely accurate descriptions for what is going on in Gaza – a story breaks that destroys all my remaining confidence that such outlets will cover the war impartially.

It was reported last week that a “mass grave” had been discovered in Khan Younis. Few were willing to blame the Israelis directly, but the coverage – and the response from some politicians – heavily implied that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) must have been responsible. I listened and read with a now-familiar torpor; vaguely interested in whether anyone would question the story’s assumptions, while knowing that they wouldn’t.

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The globally parroted suggestion that the IDF had tied Gazans’ hands behind their back before shooting them and dumping them in these graves (there is a deliberate resonance here: the SS often shot Jews in Eastern Europe into graves they’d forced them to dig) immediately struck me and most other sane Israel-watchers as almost certainly untrue. Israel, unlike Hamas, does not conduct warfare with freewheeling sadism; instances of any such foul play are investigated and punished, for which there are plenty of examples.

Of course, I could be wrong in this case, but I highly doubt it – especially given that geo-imaging now shows that the “mass graves” are actually on a site in hospital grounds in which Palestinians had previously buried dead bodies.

But there is a tendency to always assume the worst of the IDF. There is an ancient anti-Semitic trope of Jews drinking the blood of the innocents. A version of this trope appears to have structured many people’s views of Israel’s war in Gaza since the Hamas attack of October 7 – and indeed long before, at least since the turn of the millennium when the Second Intifada broke out, receiving similar encouragement to that enjoyed by Hamas now.

The urge to portray the IDF as an immoral army is very strong indeed; almost a religion in itself. But it’s wrong. In fact, the IDF has a strong claim to being the most moral army in the world.

I once interviewed Asa Kasher, the philosopher and linguist who wrote the IDF’s code of ethics, in his humble flat in a Tel Aviv suburb. I was amazed at the sobriety and rigour with which he had approached his task. This very unglamorous philosophy professor had put immense thought into the life-and-death implications of his work.

The code sets out four “fundamental values”, number three of which is “human dignity”. This states explicitly that “every individual is of inherent value, regardless of their ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender or status”. Soldiers are instructed to “maintain their humanity during combat”. Elsewhere, under “discipline”, it reads that “the soldier will ensure they are only giving out legal orders, and do not follow illegal orders”.

This code of ethics used to be handed out in paper format to all conscripts and is now disseminated in basic training. And it’s hardly surprising that the IDF seeks to inculcate such values in its troops. Israel is a democratic, free country, and many non-Jewish Israeli citizens serve in its armed forces. It also knows that it will face more scrutiny than perhaps any other army in the world.

And it’s not just theoretical: the IDF’s morality is seen in its actions. It is currently trying to dismantle probably the most extensive, cunning terrorist infrastructure ever known, one that is highly likely to have been built with the help of hundreds of millions of Western taxpayer money, UN and other “aid” funds. Hamas operates via an outstandingly well-constructed tunnel network bigger than the whole London Underground.

Israel uses a great deal of precision technology to limit the bloodshed. But it’s difficult. There are booby traps and mines above, below, and fire all around. Hamas’s whole strategy revolves around using civilian shields and as many brutal tricks as possible, such as those that have resulted in IDF soldiers firing on their own and on aid workers.

And still journalists and Twitter armies lap up the idea that Israel is going after “women and children”, refusing to acknowledge how and why they end up stuck in the cross-hairs.

Despite this near-impossible battlefield, the IDF seems to have managed to keep its ratio of civilians to combatants killed lower than almost any other army ever has. The world eats up Hamas figures for the numbers who have been killed, naturally refusing to distinguish between Hamas fighters and civilians.

But according to one analysis earlier this year, even if we accept the terror group’s statistics, for every Hamas combatant eliminated, approximately 1.5 civilians have been tragically killed. Given that the UN says that civilians usually make up a shocking 90 per cent of casualties in war (a 1:9 ratio), this is impressive.

Unlike most, Israel drops leaflets and sends texts to people before any attacks so they can evacuate; in this war, it has sacrificed some of its objectives in order to limit civilian deaths.

No army gets this right all the time, but the IDF operates in a manner light years away from that of all the terror groups and militias that hate Israel, currently being cheered on college campuses.

It is the ultimate taboo but it is true: the IDF is the most moral army in the world, and its enemies not only know this, but also trade on it.

Israel rebukes US calls for investigation into mass graves in Gaza

Israel’s military says it already looked into reports of mass graves and found no wrongdoing by its forces, even as the Biden administration calls for an investigation into the matter.

Over the past few days, U.S. officials, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan, have called for Israel to “thoroughly and transparently” investigate reports of mass graves at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which Israeli forces last raided in February. The State Department came under fire from advocates for refusing to call for an independent investigation, instead saying the U.S. will press Israel for information.

When POLITICO asked Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Nadav Shoshani whether Israel plans on investigating, he at first waived off the question, calling the reports “fake news.”

Asked if that means Israel won’t investigate the mass grave reports, Shoshani said: “Investigate what?” He then added that Israel has already looked into the matter and found that there was no wrongdoing. “We gave answers. We don’t bury people in mass graves. Not something we do.”

Shoshani didn’t provide details of that investigation or who Israel provided answers to specifically.

“The Israelis have told us privately what they’ve said publicly, that they totally reject the allegations,” said a U.S. official, granted anonymity to detail private conversations. “We aren’t in a position to validate that, and would like a thorough and transparent investigation into the reports.” The White House and the State Department declined to comment.

At least two of the three burial sites were dug prior to Israeli troops arriving, The New York Times reported. But the Gaza Civil Defense said only about 100 people were buried in graves before the IDF raid, and a total of 392 bodies were recovered.

Experts don’t believe there would be accountability if Israel investigates: “It is hard to see any real accountability or change coming out of that, said Mairav Zonszein, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.

“Simply asking Israel to investigate itself is meaningless,” said Khaled Elgindy, the Middle East Institute’s director of the program on Palestine and Israeli-Palestinian affairs.

They both cited the death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was found to have been likely killed by an Israeli soldier while reporting in the West Bank in 2022. No one was held accountable.

But Israel did react swiftly following its deadly strike on World Central Kitchen aid workers on April 1, dismissing two officers and reprimanding three others involved in the attack, which Israel deemed a mistake. The strike killed seven people, including an American-Canadian dual citizen.

After news of the mass graves broke, the Israeli military said its troops had exhumed bodies, in a respectful manner, that Palestinians had previously buried as they searched for remaining hostages. Those not belonging to Israeli hostages were returned to the graves, the military said. European Union and United Nations leaders have called for an independent investigation.

“This is really gruesome, gruesome stuff,” said Yousef Munayyer, head of Palestine/Israel Program at Arab Center Washington D.C., citing reports that some people buried had their hands tied.

If Israel is found culpable, it could bolster the case that the Israeli military has violated international humanitarian law during its war with Hamas. Though U.S. lawmakers have been silent about the graves so far, outspoken critics of Washington’s military assistance to Israel could seize on the report as another reason to stop sending weapons to Israel.

“A lot of people are losing faith in the administration's handling” of allegations of human rights violations by Israel, Munayyer said.