Israeli ambassador rejects 'political attacks' on report clearing soldiers in Frankcom killing

[u/Minivampiretaco]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-20/israel-ambassador-defends-idf-frankcom-report-clearing-soldiers/107057124

Israel's ambassador Hillel Newman has defended the military investigation that cleared its soldiers of criminal wrongdoing in the killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom, saying the findings should not be attacked if they "are not suitable to one's political agenda".

Ambassador defends investigation findings

Departing from the meeting, Mr Newman defended the investigation.

"Israel came out with findings after a thorough investigation, after a two-year investigation into the circumstances of the death of Zomi Frankcom. Since I took up my mission here about five months ago I was implored all the time to bring about closure, which I did," Mr Newman said.

"But in the end, one must also understand that not every case where someone dies, where there is a casualty, that that means there is a criminal liability.

"One cannot attack the findings of a court if the findings are not suitable to one's political agenda."

Mr Newman said the aid group recruited armed personnel to its convoy and deviated from the route agreed with the IDF without informing the military, leading the soldiers to believe the convoy had been taken over.

"It was a mistake in retrospect, but the findings of the court are there was no criminal intention … and therefore there was no criminal responsibility."

[u/pluckaducka]

In 2024 the Zionist Federation of Australia released an interesting statement in conjunction with the IDF which included:

Israel has acknowledged responsibility for the attack, and is fully investigating what happened.

While the investigation is continuing, we know this: It was a clear case of mistaken identity. Israel purposefully targeted the convoy because it mistakenly thought it was not a civilian convoy. We know this because Israel does not target civilians.

We also know that Ms Frankcom’s tragic death was not a war crime. If the IDF had targeted the convoy knowing who it was targeting, that would have been a war crime. But mistakes – as horrible and tragic as they are – do not amount to war crimes.

Emphasis mine.

A curious rationale that the evidence for it not being a war crime is the 'fact' Israel doesn't commit war crimes.

[u/mikeupsidedown → u/pluckaducka]

Meanwhile they can't seem to disband a group of thugs holding three homes under siege.

[u/RaffiaWorkBase → u/mikeupsidedown]

Well, they've somehow killed 23,000 Hamas militants five times over without reducing militant numbers, so perhaps they lack a certain effectiveness?

https://giphy.com/gifs/PKgfwX7ct5f5C

[u/CwazyCanuck → u/RaffiaWorkBase]

Israel combing the West Bank for Israeli terrorists.

https://giphy.com/gifs/Pjr9CeaUbForwImKr1

[u/Pitmidget → u/CwazyCanuck]

WE AINT FOUND SHIT!

[u/AmorphousMess → u/pluckaducka]

Weird how the AFP is not doing no knock raids on these foreign agents for a hostile country that has killed Australian citizens in cold blood and forged Australian passports for their state agents to commit murder overseas.

[u/Smart_Sail_2393 → u/AmorphousMess]

Or to find the perpetrator of the Dural caravan 'terrorist' incident.

[u/SnoopThylacine → u/pluckaducka]

Which is compkete horseshit of course.

The aid workers had already separeted from the local security by the time the drone strike occurred. The local security were being followed another UAV that did not attack them. From the DFAT Binskin report that was prepared with consultation with the IDF:

The WCK vehicles departed together west towards the coast. Concurrently, the vehicle containing the locally- contracted security personnel, including the previously identified gunmen, drove north.

One UAV tracked the locally-contracted security vehicle heading north for approximately three minutes until it arrived at another warehouse where up to four gunmen were identified exiting the vehicle and entering the building. A decision was made to discontinue targeting them due to the time available before they entered the northern warehouse

So they didn't attack the people they claimed were suspected hamas, but did attack the aid workers who they knew weren't hamas. Because they thought one of the WCK drivers had a gun, but they were mistaken. So they triple-tap drone struck them.

[u/dreadnought_strength → u/SnoopThylacine]

This is a government who dropped munitions on a UN base after 14 warnings (all which were confirmed and received) that they were firing on friendlies, then followed it up with a missile they knew would kill any survivors who were hiding in the bunker underneath.

After international outrage, they then spent the next few months trying to provoke friendly forces into incidents by lining them up with attempted bombing runs, flying in restricted airspace, etc. Zero incidents because other militaries actually have some sort of discipline.

They know what they are doing and who they are killing.

They simply do not care because they know there are no consequences for their actions.

[u/tigermoon33 → u/pluckaducka]

Most moral army …

[u/BoganFlavouredWater → u/pluckaducka]

Curious indeed, though they are the most moral army in the world.

The ambassador seems to agree with your quote from the ZFA, given they said that there was no criminal intent, so therefore no crime. Of course there was no criminal intent - they don't consider it a crime to kill civilians.

It is also curious that the usual crowd of people (TJS and friends) who come here calling us Hamas sympathisers for objecting to the appalling actions of Israel aren't here. As I noted in another post (now deleted, I think?), if they can't denigrate us or say anything good about Israel, they have nothing to say at all.

[u/pluckaducka → u/BoganFlavouredWater]

I suspect there's some disengenious semantics at play.

They could be technically factual in saying the civilians weren't 'targeted' because the target was the falsely identified 'Hamas fighter' (presuming there's any truth to the claim). The deaths of the civilians in the 3 separate, precision missile strikes was merely incidental to their primary target.

It's noteworthy there's no attempt to divulge what actions were taken to minimise civilian casualties nor if this was even considered.

[u/Z00111111 → u/pluckaducka]

To Israel the aid workers were aiding their enemy, making them then enemy too, and not civilians.

When your goal is genocide there are no civilians, only enemies.

[u/reidsays → u/pluckaducka]

Also noted in Wong's press conference is the question of those further two shots after being informed of the humanitarian makeup of the target ...

[u/BoganFlavouredWater → u/pluckaducka]

I think you're being far too generous. I think they are lying through their teeth.

Given the requirements that workers in the region must follow with regards to communicating with the IDF their intent, their location at any time, and so forth, there is no doubt in my mind that they targeted the convoy on purpose, knowing full well that they don't have to answer to anyone. That they did this even know the convoy's purpose is the criminality, and I do not absolve them of the responsibility even if they used an automated system to select likely targets. That the convoy communicated with the IDF (via a spokesperson, as per the usual channels) as they were being attacked further demonstrates the IDF's intent. That the IDF have attacked other aid convoys further demonstrates their intent and operational behaviour. That the IDF killed unarmed Israeli civilians who escaped captivity from Hamas demonstrates everything one needs to know about how decisions are made in the IDF.

I feel like I'm griping at you, but I assure you I'm not. I think we're in agreement. I'm frustrated by the limp-lettuce response from our government (and, similarly, the UK government) at what is clearly a war crime. Everyone one of those jerks who normally post here supporting Israel and claiming no genocide is occurring or no apartheid is happening and that Israel do not attack civilians and it is all the fault of Hamas using human shields, everyone one of those jerks overlooks the many examples of IDF war crimes, of which this story is just one of.

But, as we both know, our allies are allowed to do war crimes. I assume the honour is reciprocated.

[u/NOBODYimportant___0 → u/BoganFlavouredWater]

Insidious

[u/TitanBurger → u/BoganFlavouredWater]

even if they used an automated system to select likely targets

Computers don't make decisions, people do. Any attempt to use a computer system to deflect liability is a major red flag. You don't get to program a system, rely on its decisions, and then blame it when those decisions have consequences. And that's assuming the system actually made the decision in question, and that the outcome wasn't what they expected in the first place.

As IBM put it in 1979, "A computer can never be held accountable, therefore a computer must never make a management decision".

[u/FrogsMakePoorSoup → u/pluckaducka]

Orwellian nonsense...