(Israeli FM) Livni: Qana attack led to turning point in support for Israel

[sabra]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/745185.html

Livni: Qana attack led to turning point in support for Israel

The deaths of dozens of civilians in an Israel Air Force attack on the southern Lebanese village of Qana marked a significant diplomatic turning point against Israel, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Tuesday.

The foreign minister said that following the events in Qana, Israel's scope for political maneuvering had been reduced, as was the amount of European support Israel is receiving for its operation in Lebanese soil.

Livni said this change was exemplified in the "problematic" Russian and French stance towards Israel.

...

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to establish a state commission of inquiry into the killings at Qana.

As the Israel Air Force continues to investigate the air strike, questions have been raised over military accounts of the incident.

[newyorican]

1. The concern...

appears to be solely one of political positioning.

So much for all those innocent women and children. How dare they cost Israel so much political capital!1!!

Qana, where Jesus turned water to wine, and where Israelis turned Arabs into ash...

[MrPrax]

2. Yes Mr. Livni

It looks bad...but which part?

The part about warning the terrorists so that they can leave the women and children behind to be killed by Israel?
The part about bombing the UN post in Qana a week eariler nearly killing the Ghanaians stationed there? The part about the UN post in Qana being bombed in 1996 killing a hundred Lebanese that were hiding there for protection?
The part about how Israel tried to claim that it was Hezbullah that killed those people because they were using them as a human shield?
The part about how the IDF then said the building collapsed LONG after they had bombed it?
The part about how the IDF is now reporting they have NO information about any rockets in the vicinity?
The part about announcing a 48Hr. ceasefire for propaganda purposes and then ignoring it?

Yes Mr. Livni...it looks bad....looks like a crime against humanity.

[spindrifter]

6. It's Ms. Livni.

Her name is Tziporah Livni.

[MrPrax]

7. Oh well...

she sounds like a man ;-)

[Missy M]

3. Israel seems to be more concerned about their image.....

than they do about all the destruction and killing that took place in Qana.

[Gully Foyle]

4. Corrected

Should be US and Israel. They were losing in public opinion and strategy well before murdering those innocents.

[Little Star]

20. Their credibility was only hanging on by a thread before

Qana. Who's he trying to fool? Qana was just the straw that broke the backs of Bush's allies.

[plasticsundance]

5. Israel is promoting the old propaganda adage

repeat a lie often enough until it becomes the truth

[DoYouEverWonder]

13. Thanks to the Internets

that old adage doesn't work any more.

Their lies are documented and debunked almost as fast as they can tell them.

Remember back in the 60's it took years for the truth to come out about things like My Lai. Now we can transmit pictures and videos within a couple of hours.

[question everything]

8. DU ignorance strikes again. Livni is the Foreign Secretary

(parallel job to Rice's)

[Scurrilous]

10. Tzipi Livni

"Tzipora (Tzipi) Livni (born July 5, 1958) is a senior Israeli politician currently serving as Foreign Affairs Minister, with the recently added title of Vice Prime Minister. According to some official sources her new additional title is "Acting Prime Minister", indicating she would lead the government on an "acting" basis if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert were unable to fulfill his duties.

Some observers believe Livni has emerged from the recent Knesset elections, and the negotiations for the formation of Israel's 31st Government, as "the second most powerful politician in Israel," after Olmert.

First elected to the Knesset as a member of the Likud party in 1999, she followed then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Olmert into the new Kadima Party in late 2005. At that time she was Minister of Justice, but soon added the position of Foreign Minister following the departure of the remaining Likud ministers from the government in January 2006."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzipi_Livni



Government Roles

Tzipi Livni
Kadima


Knesset 17 Govt. 31 Vice Prime Minister
Minister of Foreign Affairs


http://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=213

[AliceWonderland]

9. Wow, the tide turns and all it took was a bunch of dead children

Nice. Very nice.

I agree with the poster above that seems far more concerned with "Israel's image" than dead babies.

[Malikshah]

19. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.... bio below

Livni was born in Tel Aviv. She is the daughter of Eitan Livni, a Polish-born former ETZEL member who was at one time a Likud member of the Knesset. She served as a Lieutenant in the Israel Defense Forces and worked for the Mossad for four years during the early 1980s. A graduate of Bar Ilan University's Faculty of Law, she has years of experience as a lawyer, specializing in public and commercial law.

ETZEL, you may ask...


Irgun (ארגון), shorthand for Irgun Tsvai Leumi (ארגון צבאי לאומי, also spelled Irgun Zvai Leumi), Hebrew for "National Military Organization", was a clandestine militant Zionist group that operated in the British Mandate of Palestine from 1931 to 1948. In Israel, this group is commonly referred to as Etzel (אצ"ל), an acronym of the Hebrew initials. In the time in which the Irgun operated, often people referred to the Irgun as 'הגנה ב or ההגנה הלאומית. The Irgun was classified by the British authorities as well as several Jewish organizations, such as the Jewish Agency, Haganah and Histadrut, as a terrorist organization. Its political association with Revisionist Zionism rendered it a predecessor movement to modern Israel's right-wing Likud party/coalition.


This is all from Wikipedia, but there are numerous other sources as well.

She also bears the distinct "honor" of being the second female foreign minister after Golda "There are no such things as Palestinians" Meir....

[funnymanpants]

11. Israel caught lying about human shields excuse in Quana

As the Israel Air Force As the Israel Air Force continues to investigate the air strike, questions have been raised over military accounts of the incident.

It now appears that the military had no information on rockets launched from the site of the building, or the presence of Hezbollah men at the time.

The Israel Defense Forces had said after the deadly air-strike that many rockets had been launched from Qana. However, it changed its version on Monday.

The site was included in an IAF plan to strike at several buildings in proximity to a previous launching site. Similar strikes were carried out in the past. However, there were no rocket launches from Qana on the day of the strike

[plasticsundance]

12. Yeah ... and the irony of it all

This information is in the same article with the title: Livni: Qana attack led to turning point in support for Israel

How does that work?:sarcasm:

[daleo]

15. The headline did not match the content of the article

That's become pretty routine. The headline implies support for Israel went up, the article acknowledges it went down. I guess they want to fool the headline skimmers.

[daleo]

14. Maybe U.S. (or Russian) spy satellites have info on this

It seems odd that the IDF would backtrack on the rocket claims. Military forces aren't known for backtracking from their claims unless absolutely necessary. Look at the U.S. in Iraq, for example.

But maybe these rockets show up on spy satellites, and someone had good evidence that there were no rockets fired from the village. Could the U.S. have finally decided to put some pressure on Israel? It seems doubtful, but many of the events of this war have seemed hard to explain. Maybe Russia - that might explain her reference to Russia and France.

[megatherium]

16. Maybe the Israelis aren't actually pathological liars, as so

many posters on DU seem to think. Maybe they actually believed there were missiles there, and acted on that belief, and when they learned otherwise, they were forthright enough to acknowledge their error.

[daleo]

18. Military forces often lie

Not just Israelis - I can't think of a military in the world that doesn't lie when it suits their purpose.

[breakaleg]

17. while it seems the concern is political at this point, it's still a good

thing.

I think the first step in changing Israel's policies is lack of support world wide.