Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Ze’ev Elkin says his panel is the best place to investigate the operation, but other MKs remain skeptical of its ability to handle such a task.

Like many IDF operations before it, Operation Protective Edge will be examined and inspected, probed and scrutinized from all angles within Israel and around the world.

The UN Human Rights Council investigation led by Canadian Prof. William Schabas – who was derided by many this week after he refused to admit Hamas is a terrorist organization, and said Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should be prosecuted for Operation Cast Lead even though he was opposition leader at the time – is being snubbed by the government, with the Foreign Ministry calling it a “kangaroo court.”

Following on from the UNHRC announcement, State Comptroller Joseph Shapira announced he would open his own investigation.

Ten days earlier, while IDF soldiers were still on the ground in Gaza, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) announced his panel would ask “tough questions” about the operation and, true to his word, set the groundwork for an investigative committee this week.

Elkin’s announcement that his committee would probe Operation Protective Edge brought up a flurry of questions and responses from the coalition and opposition: Do MKs have access to all the classified information needed for such an examination? Wouldn’t an official commission of inquiry, with greater executive power, be a better choice? Can politicians really investigate other politicians without bias?

As with so many other things in the Knesset, the answers depend on politics. Continue reading