Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau decried Belgium's hypocrisy:
"The thought that a nation that stood by and watched when Jewish blood was spilt like water and ignored victims' cries, is now elevating itself to the position of world policeman - is outrageous in the extreme." He condemned the fact that Belgium, "which remained quiet when it should have been screaming out in the name of humanity," is now speaking out "so pretentiously and hypocritically to cast fault on IDF soldiers and its commanders, who have endangered their own lives many times in order to refrain from injuring innocent civilians, and to denigrate the behavior of a democratic, sovereign state."
President Moshe Katzav sent a strong letter to the King of Belgium today, totally rejecting Belgium’s moral right to bring Israeli leaders and IDF officers to trial
"Israeli leaders and IDF officers operate according to international norms, the Israeli law, their conscience and basic human morality," the President wrote, "and no one has the right to doubt the ethical standards Israel holds itself to. Those who accuse us would do well to reflect on their past actions."
Ariel Sharon himself, exactly 20 years ago, after he was fired as Israel's Defense Minister in the aftermath of Sabra and Shatila, predicted today's events: "I say again: Israel in general - I'm referring to the state, the nation, the people, and not only the government and the army - the whole nation is being portrayed as responsible [for what happened] - indirectly. I evaluate that we will not be freed of this accusation - as a people, as a nation, as Jews - for generations, and it will be marked as a sign of Cain on our foreheads."
Sharon was referring to the left-wing's campaign against him and then-Prime Minister Menacham Begin for the Peace in Galilee War in general and what happened at Sabra and Shatila in particular. Crowds called Begin and Sharon "murderers." Sharon protested at the time: "Not one soldier or officer took place in this terrible act. Our hands are clean, and our purity of arms was maintained throughout the entire war. This entire attempt to attribute it to us - you did this on every stage, in front of the whole world!"
"The thought that a nation that stood by and watched when Jewish blood was spilt like water and ignored victims' cries, is now elevating itself to the position of world policeman - is outrageous in the extreme." He condemned the fact that Belgium, "which remained quiet when it should have been screaming out in the name of humanity," is now speaking out "so pretentiously and hypocritically to cast fault on IDF soldiers and its commanders, who have endangered their own lives many times in order to refrain from injuring innocent civilians, and to denigrate the behavior of a democratic, sovereign state."
President Moshe Katzav sent a strong letter to the King of Belgium today, totally rejecting Belgium’s moral right to bring Israeli leaders and IDF officers to trial
"Israeli leaders and IDF officers operate according to international norms, the Israeli law, their conscience and basic human morality," the President wrote, "and no one has the right to doubt the ethical standards Israel holds itself to. Those who accuse us would do well to reflect on their past actions."
Ariel Sharon himself, exactly 20 years ago, after he was fired as Israel's Defense Minister in the aftermath of Sabra and Shatila, predicted today's events: "I say again: Israel in general - I'm referring to the state, the nation, the people, and not only the government and the army - the whole nation is being portrayed as responsible [for what happened] - indirectly. I evaluate that we will not be freed of this accusation - as a people, as a nation, as Jews - for generations, and it will be marked as a sign of Cain on our foreheads."
Sharon was referring to the left-wing's campaign against him and then-Prime Minister Menacham Begin for the Peace in Galilee War in general and what happened at Sabra and Shatila in particular. Crowds called Begin and Sharon "murderers." Sharon protested at the time: "Not one soldier or officer took place in this terrible act. Our hands are clean, and our purity of arms was maintained throughout the entire war. This entire attempt to attribute it to us - you did this on every stage, in front of the whole world!"