Defense minister says South African judge’s regret over Gaza war report is ‘very important’, but that Israel will ‘make him’ express regret in international forum as well. PM Netanyahu: We’ll work to demand justice Israel deserves
Ronen Medzini, YNET
Two days after Judge Richard Goldstone expressed his regret over his accusations against Israel in his Gaza war report, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday that “Goldstone’s article is very important, but it’s too little and too late. We’ll make him face an international United Nations forum and speak out.”
Although Goldstone also said Israel should have cooperated with the UN investigation into Operation Cast Lead, Barak does not regret the decision not to cooperate with the South African judge’s team. “It’s good that we rejected it,” he told reporters at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
Barak reiterated that the Goldstone report was distorted and called the committee’s appointment a “blood libel”. “Goldstone was asked to look into IDF war crimes, and only a senseless government could have accepted such a thing.”
The defense minister explained that “it’s very important not to cooperate with a committee sent by the Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is a delusional forum of Israel’s rivals.”
He stressed that Israel handed the UN a report of hundreds of pages on the independent investigations it conducted after the Gaza operation. “Goldstone knew everything he needed to know, all the facts on the Israeli side, but he ignored them.”
Goldstone wrote in a Washington Post article published Friday, “If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document.”
Livnat: Leftist groups must apologize
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during the cabinet meeting, “There are very few cases in which libel plotters regret their libel. This is happening now with the Goldstone Report, when all the things we said have proved to be true.
“Israel did not intentionally target civilians, as opposed to Hamas, which intentionally targeted and murdered citizens. We will work to demand the justice Israel deserves,” he said.
Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat called on Israel’s left-wing organizations to apologize, as Goldstone did. “Elements like the New Israel Fund, which provided distorted material, should self-examine themselves.
“I would like to see at least one of them say, ‘I was wrong, I made a mistake,’ at least like Goldstone did. I would like to see them work to distribute the truth worldwide.”
It would be nice if the Times had reported that Goldstone’s imperfect admission called into question the methodology and bias of his investigation instead of trying to repair the damage Goldstone just did to his own investigation.
Yes. Example.
S. African Jewry should have done no less with Goldstone.
Is there a jewish equivalent to excommunication ?