Herzog intervened to advance Frankcom investigation, embassy says

Israel’s embassy in Australia has revealed that President Isaac Herzog personally intervened to advance the investigation into the death of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom, as it defended the IDF’s decision not to pursue criminal proceedings over the 2024 strike.

In a special edition newsletter distributed on Thursday, the embassy said the decision was made by the chief military prosecutor in the Military Advocate General Corps, which it described as an independent authority conducting professional factual assessments of operational incidents.

It said Herzog got involved in order to promote the investigation, at the encouragement of Israel’s ambassador to Australia. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese raised the case with Herzog during his visit in February.

The embassy expressed sorrow at the loss of innocent life and commiserations to Frankcom’s family, and acknowledged operational failures had occurred, for which senior officers were disciplined.

“However, ‘operational failures’ do not necessarily amount to criminal liability,” it said, adding that criminal proceedings are launched only where there is more than reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct according to the standards of criminal law.

“Nonetheless, disciplinary measures were taken to ensure accountability. Criminal proceedings are not the only form of accountability.”

The embassy detailed those measures for the first time. The brigade fire support commander, a major who guided the strikes, was dismissed from his position, as was the brigade chief of staff, a reserve colonel. The brigade commander, the division commander and the commander of IDF Southern Command — a colonel, a brigadier general and a major general — were formally reprimanded.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Wednesday the decision fell “far short of the accountability we expect”, adding that “democracies seek and accept higher standards”.

The embassy said accusing Israel of a cover-up because the legal findings were not to one’s liking was “to say the legal proceedings must come to a specific legal finding, otherwise they are wrong”, which it described as contrary to standards of law and evidence in democratic states.

It said the strike was one of five cases considered, two of which were found worthy of criminal proceedings, and that Israel had a robust and independent legal system and was committed to international humanitarian law.

The newsletter set out the circumstances the IDF assessed as indicating Hamas had taken control of the convoy, including armed personnel travelling without IDF coordination or knowledge, a delayed departure during night-time hours, deviation from the pre-coordinated route, and a lack of communication. It said World Central Kitchen had hired an armed security force to protect the convoy from armed actors in Gaza without informing or coordinating with the IDF, and that attempts to contact WCK representatives during the incident were unsuccessful.

World Central Kitchen has rejected the IDF’s account as deeply offensive, saying the military could not credibly investigate its own conduct, and renewed its call for an independent commission of inquiry.

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) executive director Colin Rubenstein said the deaths were profoundly tragic and that the Israeli findings were consistent with those of Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, who found the IDF had not deliberately or knowingly targeted WCK personnel.

“Regrettably, errors are an inevitable part of warfare, particularly in the complexity of urban warfare against a terror group like Hamas, and the WCK error was a particularly tragic example,” Rubenstein said. “Yet what matters is how militaries in a democracy respond.”

He said the IDF had accepted full responsibility, apologised, dismissed senior commanders and changed procedures, and that he hoped the findings could bring some closure.