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[Excerpts:]

""Both the terms of reference of the investigation and the context in which they were adopted make it nothing less than a kangaroo court," says Gerald Steinberg, a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies in Israel. "Israelis have largely given up on this process. They don’t expect to see justice."" "Mr. Steinberg says Israel’s government decided the investigation is so political in its leanings that allowing the fact-finders into southern Israeli towns like Sderot and Ashkelon – both regular targets of Palestinian rocket fire – would do nothing to either repair the image of bias or influence the ultimate findings of the mission. "The general consensus was that there is so much bias and built-in animosity towards Israel with this investigation that allowing them into Sderot simply wouldn’t change anything," Steinberg says." "To persuade the Israeli government to participate in any UN-led investigation, Steinberg says an entirely new and independent panel unaffiliated with the Human Rights Council, which he says is influenced by an "Islamic bloc" of nations, would need to be established. "Unless there are people on this panel who know something about military options, about weighing military necessity against the protection of civilian combatants, this is not an appropriate body to deal with these issues," says Steinberg."