A day after the UN General Assembly endorsed the Goldstone Report, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Friday said he was pleased with the vote, which showed "Israel has a moral majority."
Lieberman with Defense Minister Ehud Barak at the UN General Assembly
Photo: AP [file]
A total of 114 nations voted in favor of the resolution and 18 voted against it, with 44 members abstaining. Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Netherlands, Palau, Panama, Poland, Slovakia, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine, United States voted against the resolution.
"The majority that supported Israel shows that Israel has a moral majority. Saudi Arabia and Somalia, which voted in favor of the resolution, will not preach morality to us," Lieberman stressed.
"The results of the vote were known in advance because there is an automatic majority against Israel. We are neither surprised nor disappointed with the vote, and are pleased that 18 democratic 'premier league' states voted in line with Israel's position, while 44 South American and African states abstained," said the foreign minister.
Lieberman criticized those who accused Israel of committing war crimes during Operation Cast Lead, saying that the international community was coming to realize that the Goldstone Report was biased.
"It proves that Israel is succeeding in getting across the message that the report is one-sided and not serious," Lieberman said of the vote.
The UN General Assembly.
Photo: AP [file]
The United States, which voted against the resolution, called it "unbalanced and biased" and warned that its endorsement would hurt prospects for achieving Mideast peace.
Israel had initially responded to the resolution by maintaining that "the results of the vote, and the large number of countries who voted against or abstained, clearly show that the assembly's resolution does not enjoy the support of the moral majority."
The Foreign Ministry statement stressed that the resolution had no connection to "the reality Israel faces."
"During Operation Cast Lead the IDF exhibited higher standards of combat and morals than those held by the all the initiators of the resolution," said the statement.
"Israel will continue to act to defend itself from international terrorism, as any Democratic country would," concluded the Foreign Ministry.
AP contributed to this report
