SF Chronicle correspondent Matthew Kalman talked to Nachman Shai about the Dura footage due to be screened in a Paris courtroom in November. The former IDF spokesman takes a pessimistic view of the latest developments:
But Nachman Shai, a former Israeli army spokesman who is writing a report on the incident, said Israel had nothing to gain from its re-appearance on the front pages.
“We the state of Israel lose on this issue,” Shai said. “It was a mistake to take responsibility … but we will never be able to prove it. Now that the story is out there again, we are blamed again, the story is turned against us again and there is no benefit.”
Shai said he had been invited to view the full tape by Enderlin, but it did not show anything new. He said there was no point demanding its release.
“From what I saw, we don’t learn anything more. There is no new evidence there,” he said. “Now the pictures will be broadcast again and again. Millions of people who never saw these images because they were broadcast six or seven years ago have now seen them in the past two days and it’s back on the agenda.”
The full court press on France 2 is reasonable, given the overwhelming questions surrounding the video’s veracity and the network’s unyielding stubbornness. France 2 initiated the legal proceedings; they have to live with the unintended consequences.
That said, Shai’s dissent, unpopular though it may be, does raise one question Israel’s supporters — who haven’t seen the raw footage yet — should ponder: What if the raw footage doesn’t conclusively absolve the IDF? Might the rushes muddy the waters enough for France 2’s supporters and critics to claim victory, irrespective of the judge’s own ruling?
