Yesterday, I reported that Hamas fighters had captured 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin in a Gaza ambush. I also reported that Hamas said it had lost contact with the team that captured Goldin and that the team and Goldin were presumed dead. My Israeli source revealed that the IDF survivors of the ambush had shot both Goldin and the Palestinian who tried to drag his wounded body away. The Hannibal Directive had been invoked, meaning the army used every means at its disposal, including murder, to prevent the taking of its soldiers.
Today, Walla confirmed via the IDF that Goldin is dead. At first the army only admitted it knew this based on “DNA evidence.” But I believed it had his body. This was confirmed by this subsequent Ynet report that it did have his body and that his funeral would be tomorrow. It is critical that there be an autopsy to determine the cause of his death. But I don’t believe the IDF will allow it because it knows what it will find.
In the hours following his capture, the IDF bombarded Rafah with heavy artillery and from the air in order to both take vengeance for the ambush which killed two senior officers; and to kill Goldin. Over 60 Gazans died. Though the IDF conceded Godin is dead. But it did not concede that it killed him and did so deliberately. That is why the army censor warned the Times about its reporting. Here is how the Times public editor reported it today:
“After the initial publication of this article, the military’s censor informed The New York Times that further information related to Lieutenant Goldin would have to be submitted for prior review. Journalists for foreign news organizations must agree in writing to the military censorship system to work in Israel. This was the first censorship notification The Times had received in more than six years.”
I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that the IDF does not want a major foreign media outlet to report that it killed its own. This passage too in the Times report would become terribly inconvenient when Goldin’s killing becomes better known:
His father, Simcha Goldin, said the family was confident the Israeli military would “not stop under any circumstances until they have turned over every stone in Gaza and have brought Hadar home healthy and whole.”
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2014/08/02/idf-censor-tells-ny-times-it-cannot-report-it-killed-2nd-lt-hadar-goldin/
= new reply since forum marked as read
