Goldstone denies intention to retract UN report
By JPOST.COM STAFF
LAST UPDATED: 04/06/2011 07:39
In AP interview, judge refutes Yishai's claims that he promised to seek nullification for his report on Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.
Judge Richard Goldstone Photo: REUTERS
South
African jurist Richard Goldstone denied Interior Minister Eli Yishai's
claim that he planned to work to nullify his report on the the IDF's
Operation Cast Lead in 2009, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
Goldstone,
in an interview with the Associated Press, said that Yishai had called
to thank him for his Washington Post op-ed piece, but that the two never
discussed the actual report. Goldstone said that he had responded to
Yishai's thanks, telling him his utmost concern was for "truth, justice,
and human rights."
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On Tuesday, AP reported that the interior minister had said that Goldstone, “as a Jew understands well
the story of the Jewish people’s suffering ... and it is very important
for him to come and see this." Yishai added that Goldstone had made a promise to work towards an official retraction of the report.
Goldstone told the Associated Press
that Yishai had invited him to Israel, and that he accepted the invitation but would not be able to come until July. He added
that he ended his conversation with Yishai expressing his "love for
Israel."
As for his report on the 2009 Gaza offensive, Goldstone reiterated that
the "intentionality on the part of Israel" required review, and that
"domestic investigation could lead to further reconsideration." The
judge concluded, however, that no part of the report needed
reconsideration at the present time.
On Monday, the UNHRC spokesman Cedric
Sapey had told The Jerusalem Post that in order for the body to
reconsider the report, that the judge would first need to write a formal letter to that effect.