WASHINGTON – America against Goldstone: US Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, urged the world body Thursday to end its preoccupation with a report accusing Israel of committing war crimes during the Gaza War.
"The United States urges the United Nations to end, once and for all, its actions in relation to the Goldstone Report," she said.
The remarks were made during a periodical Security Council session on the state of affairs in the Middle East and the Palestinian question. The US has been leading calls to shelve the controversial report following Judge Richard Goldstone's recent retraction in a Washington Post article.
"Israel has the democratic institutions and ability to carry out serious investigations-and is doing so," Rice said Thursday. "Justice Goldstone recently concluded that Israel has undertaken an appropriate review process and made changes in its combat doctrine."
"As we made clear when the Goldstone Report was first presented, we did not see evidence that the Israeli government intentionally targeted civilians. Justice Goldstone has now reached the same conclusion," she said. "He also concluded that Hamas has 'done nothing' to investigate the 'allegations of its war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.'"
Last week, members of the US Senate voted unanimously in favor of a decision calling for annulment of the report following Goldstone's retraction.