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 Canadian academic William Schabas, the head of a U.N. inquiry into
last summer's war between Israel and Gaza, said on Monday he would
resign after Israeli allegations of bias due to consultancy work he
did for the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
Netanyahu said in a statement that following the resignation,
publication of the report ought to be shelved and that the Hamas
Islamist group in Gaza should be investigated rather than the Jewish
state.
More than 2,100 Palestinians, most of them civilians, 67 Israeli
soldiers and six civilians in Israel, were killed in the conflict.
Schabas' resignation follows a letter from Israel's ambassador to
the United Nations in Geneva, Eviatar Manor, to Human Rights Council
President Joachim Ruecker of Germany decrying what he called a
"blatant conflict of interest" and Schabas' prior relationship with
the Palestinians. He demanded his immediate dismissal.
 The Jan. 30 letter was made public on Tuesday.
Israel has long accused the council of bias against it and announced
months ago that it would not cooperate with the inquiry, calling it
a "kangaroo court".
Schabas said in a letter to Ruecker he had been paid $1,300 for a
legal opinion to the PLO in Oct. 2012, but that he had acted with
full "independence and impartiality" as chairman.
"The President respects the decision of Professor Schabas and
appreciates that in this way even the appearance of a conflict of
interest is avoided, thus preserving the integrity of the process,"
Ruecker said in a statement.
The investigators are "now in the final phase of collecting evidence
from as many victims and witnesses as possible from both sides", he
said.
The inquiry was set up by the Geneva forum last July at the
Palestinians' request. The council resolution condemned the Israeli
assault that it said had involved "disproportionate and
indiscriminate attacks" including aerial bombing of civilian areas
and collective punishment.
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Its other two members are Doudou Diene of Senegal and Mary McGowan
Davis of the United States. A new chairperson may be announced later
in the day, spokesman Rolando Gomez said.
Schabas, in his letter, said he had not been asked to provide any
details of his past activity concerning Palestine and Israel. His
curriculum vitae and blog were public, he said.
"This work in defense of human rights appears to have made me a huge
target for malicious attacks, which, if Israel's complaint is to be
taken at face value, will only intensify in the weeks to come," he
said.
Rather than waiting for a legal opinion from the world body in New
York, which would delay final drafting of its report, its work would
be better served by his resignation, he said.
"Time was very important now. There are only a few weeks left before
the commission of inquiry finishes its work and I was becoming an
obstacle and a distraction to the commission. So I had to get out of
the way and let it get on with its work so it can prepare its
report," Schabas told Israel Radio.
(Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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