'There is still hope.' Minister Shalom at conference
Diplomatic victory for Israel: IPU won't debate Gaza offensive
Delegation to Geneva conference blocks Arab proposal to debate army's conduct during December-January offensive in Strip. Minister Shalom: World sick and tired of one-sided discussion on Israel
Israel managed to foil on Monday another Arab proposal to debate Operation Cast Lead at the Inter-Parliamentary Union conference in Geneva.
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Israel's proposition on the matter received 1,197 votes in favor, and a proposition put forward by Iran and the Arab world received 538 supporting votes.
Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom, who headed the Israeli delegation, said after the vote: "We have not lost hope yet."
Countries supporting the proposal put forward by Oman include Turkey, Russia, China and India. The proposition called for an IPU debate of the Goldstone Report, which accuses Israel of committing war crimes during the Gaza war.
The rejection of the Arab proposal came just three days after the controversial report was adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Minister Shalom said in his speech before the IPU, "Just last week there was a debate here on Israel, a session that could also take place in New York. Not only Israel, but the entire world is sick and tired of this continuous, one-sided discussion on Israel. The world has grown tired of the attempts by Iran and the Arab bloc to raise the Israeli issue over and over again.
"Enough with these attempts to use the international stage for attacks on Israel," Shalom said.
Last April an Israeli delegation to the previous IPU conference, which was held in Ethiopia, also thwarted a proposal by Iran and Oman to debate the IDF's conduct in Gaza. During the conference members of the Iranian delegation called Minister Shalom a "murderer" and waved photos of the destruction in Gaza following the Israel's December-January offensive.
Shalom left the conference in Ethiopia before it concluded in protest of the participation of Hamas figures, who attended the meetings as part of the Palestinian delegation.
