Global Policy Forum

By Laurie Copans

Israel on Wednesday demanded changes in the composition of a U.N. team that will look into Israel's military operation in the Jenin refugee camp, and a senior government official alleged the probe was intended from the outset to cast blame on Israel.

An Israeli team was flying to New York on Wednesday to try to persuade U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to add anti-terror and military experts to the team. However, Annan rejected an Israeli request to delay the arrival of the team in the region, and said he expected the investigators to be in place by Saturday.

Annan has not ruled out adding more members to the team, the U.N. said. The Palestinians have alleged that Israeli troops carried out a massacre during a week of fierce fighting in the Jenin camp earlier this month. Israel denies the allegations, saying most of those killed were gunmen. So far, 45 bodies have been retrieved, but other bodies may still be buried under the rubble.

Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the commission should not travel to the region until its composition and mandate was changed. "We hope they will take into consideration our positions and they will fix things ... that they are coming to check not check only us but both sides," he said.

Israel intends on "cooperating" with the team, but demands that it also look into suicide bombings by Palestinian militants, Ben-Eliezer said. He said 137 Israelis had been killed in one recent four-week period, the majority in suicide bombings. He did not say what Israel would do if the make-up of the commission was not changed. Gideon Meir, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official, said the U.N. team was established with the goal of finding fault with Israel. "From our point of view the whole thing is a set up for Israel," Meir said. "Everything is against Israel here."

Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat accused Israel of trying to hide wrongdoing. "Israel wants to sabotage its mission," Erekat said. "I believe that these Israeli practices reflect one thing, that they have a big thing to hide." The Jenin camp, home to 14,000 Palestinians, is a stronghold of Palestinian militants. Israel says 20 of about 50 Palestinian suicide bombers who have blown themselves up in the past 19 months of fighting were from the Jenin area.

On April 3, Israeli troops entered the camp as part of a three-week military offensive aimed at crushing Palestinian militias. Scores of Palestinian gunmen engaged in eight days of fierce fighting with the troops and booby-trapped homes in the camp. Twenty-three soldiers were killed in the fighting. Annan has said the mandate of the three-member team was a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted unanimously last Friday that welcomed the fact-finding mission. That resolution also expresses concern at "the dire humanitarian situation of the Palestinian civilian population," especially in Jenin.

Israel wants to negotiate terms for the team's activities in Palestinian areas, and wants one member removed, Cornelio Sommaruga, former president of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Israeli media reported Wednesday that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had decided not to cooperate with the team. Meir denied the reports, saying that they came before Annan agreed to hear Israel's position.

Israeli Cabinet Secretary Gideon Saar said Tuesday that Israel could block the team from entering the Jenin refugee camp if it believes the mission is not abiding by its mandate. Meir said Israel has had bad experiences with U.N. fact-finding missions in the past. "We want to make sure this one is fair," he said.

Israel has had a difficult relationship with the United Nations, which once had a resolution on the books equating Zionism with racism. Relations improved under Annan but were strained again last year after the United Nations admitted it misled Israel about potential evidence in the kidnapping of Israeli troops in south Lebanon. Recent remarks made by Annan's envoy to the Mideast over the Jenin operation infuriated the Israeli government. Israel had decided last week to cooperate with the team, with the hope that Israel's position would be heard.

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