Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah

Goldstone's Rosh Hashanah Bomb The news hit Israel like a bomb, and I do not use this word lightly for a region riddled with bullets that has seen its share of real bombs that kill and maim people. Israel is appalled and disappointed by the Report published on September 15, 2009 by the Gaza Fact-Finding Mission. The Report effectively ignores Israel's right of self-defense, makes unsubstantiated claims about its intent, and challenges Israel's democratic values and rule of law.

So began the Israeli response, posted on Israel Ministry of foreign Affairs' website, to Judge Richard Goldstone, the head of a United Nations commission, who this week charged Israel with committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip during its offensive there last winter. The nearly 600-page report, presented this week by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, and recommended that if no appropriate independent inquiry takes place in Israel within six months, the Security Council should refer the matter to prosecutors at the International Criminal Court.

Israeli officials have been furious at what they have called a biased report and a biased mandate, rejecting its findings. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the report and reiterated Israel's right to defend itself during television interviews before Rosh Hashanah. "I am telling international leaders: You are telling us that you support our right of self-defense. Don't tell us that after the next agreement, tell us now," he told Channel 2. "Reject the findings of this commission."