Israel’s Top Officer Apologizes to U.N. for Death of Soldier

Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Moshe Levy, apologized to the United Nations on Sunday for “the shameful mistake” that resulted in the killing of an Irish soldier.

Levy said on Israel radio that he has received the findings of an investigation of the Jan. 10 shooting of the Irish peacekeeping soldier but is still studying the report.

“It’s a shameful mistake; I can’t be proud of it,” Levy said.

He said no decision has been made on whether to take legal measures against those involved.

Israel has admitted that its tank fire, directed against Lebanese guerrillas, killed the Irishman in the southern Lebanon village of Braachit. An official apology was sent to Ireland’s government last week.

The army conducted an internal inquiry that determined that the officer who ordered the tank fire had arrived in the area only the previous day.

Israel radio said the officer disregarded a warning from an Israeli soldier that the building being targeted was a U.N. position. The Israelis failed to see a flare fired by the peacekeepers to ward off further tank fire after the initial round, the radio said.

The officer in charge has been removed from the area, Israel radio said.

Israel’s relations with the nine-nation U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon have long been strained.