US helped Israel contain UN Gaza war probe: report

The United States worked behind the scenes to help Israel contain UN probes into possible war crimes committed during the 2008-2009 Gaza war, Foreign Policy reported Tuesday.

The online foreign affairs magazine cited exclusive WikiLeaks cables detailing moves by the US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice to prevent a more thorough UN investigation of abuses during the Israeli war.

According to one cable, Rice spoke with UN chief Ban Ki-moon three times on May 4, 2009 to urge him to remove recommendations for a wider investigation from a board of inquiry report into attacks on UN sites in Gaza.

Rice "underscored the importance of having a strong cover letter that made clear that no further action was needed and would close out this issue," the US diplomatic cable said. Ban said his staff was working with the Israeli delegation and "called her after the letter had been finalized to report that he believed they had arrived at a satisfactory cover letter."

Later that year Israel and the United States pushed back against a similar effort to investigate the war by the UN Human Rights Council, which appointed a team led by the South African jurist Richard Goldstone.

The release of the Goldstone probe coincided with US efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and in another cable Rice links the two during a meeting with Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon. Rice told Ayalon that Washington "is still studying the report, remains concerned about the fact-finding mission's mandate and many of the recommendations in the report," according to the cable. She then urged him to "help us help them with progress on the peace process, saying that the report can be more easily managed if there is progress."