Netanyahu rejects UN Gaza report
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday launched harsh slams against the United Nations' Gaza conflict investigation report, vowing never to allow Israelis to be on trail in international courts due to the alleged war crimes in the report.
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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the opening of the winter session of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem October 12, 2009. Netanyahu gave no ground on peace with the Palestinians in a speech on Monday, reasserting they must recognise Israel as a Jewish state if they wanted a deal for a state of their own. [Xinhua] |
"We will not allow Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak, who sent our sons to war, reach the Hague International Criminal Court," local news service Ynet quoted Netanyahu as speaking at the opening of the winter session of the Knesset (Israeli parliament).
The prime minister fiercely criticized the UN's Gaza report, saying the report and the UN investigation mission are "distorted".
The UN mission led by judge Richard Goldstone said in a report last month that the mission has found evidence that both Israeli and the Palestinian forces committed "war crimes" during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Gaza Strip from Dec. 27, 2008 to Jan. 18, 2009.
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Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the opening of the winter session of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem October 12, 2009. [Xinhua] |
The report, using large pages describing immoral behaviors of Israeli army, reads that the military operation in Gaza was directed against the citizens of Gaza generally, in order to advance a general policy whose goal was to punish the Gazan population and to carry out an intentional policy of utilizing non-proportional force against the civilian population.
The investigation mission also urged both the Israelis and Palestinians to conduct independent, impartial investigations or face possible action by the International Criminal Court, which means the Court is likely to hold hearings against Israeli officers and politicians involved in the operation.
Netanyahu, defending Israel's operation in Gaza in his speech at Knesset, said that it was a "self-defense" operation against the Palestinian Hamas movement's rocket attacks to Israel.
"Israel will not take any chances for peace if it cannot defend itself," he added.
The prime minister expressed similar comments earlier this month, saying it could "deal a fatal blow to" the Israeli-Palestinian peace progress if the UN Human Rights Council decides to endorse the report.
"Promoting the conclusions of the Goldstone Report will devastate the peace process," Netanyahu told his cabinet at that time.
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