Israeli Foreign Ministry officials expressed outrage today at the UN Human Rights Council for naming a commission that will probe their ongoing Gaza War, insisting the chairman, Canadian professor and lawyer William Schabas, is unacceptable.

Schabas denied being “anti-Israel,” and insisted his mandate was to probe human rights violations by both sides during the conflict, insisting that they would look into both Israeli attacks on civilians and claims of Hamas using human shields.

Schabas noted he has been to Israel several times as a visiting professor and hoped to meet with Israeli decision-makers during the probe, though he will likely be persona non-grata now that he is charged with probing Israeli war crimes, as has often been the case in the past.

The panel also includes Senegalese lawyer Dr. Doudou Diene, a long-standing UN Special Rapporteur on racism. A third panel member has yet to be named, as the first candidate, George Clooney’s fiancee, turned the post down.