Judge Richard Goldstone, who headed the UN inquiry commission into last winter's Operation Cast Lead, leveled criticism at Washington for its response to the report, which calls for Israel and the Palestinians to investigate alleged war crimes during the conflict.
"The reactions in the international community were very mixed, but the lukewarm reaction from the United States disappointed me," Goldstone told the German weekly political newspaper Das Parlament in a Sunday article, which was cited by Reuters.
"The fact that the reactions from Israel were so violent really surprised me at times," he added. "I had hoped our call to take legal steps and pursue people at a national level would fall on more open ears."
Goldstone stressed that the fact that he himself was Jewish played no role for him when he headed the commission.
"People are people, regardless of religion or skin color," he said.
Last Tuesday, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a non-binding resolution condemning the Goldstone Report and calling on the Obama administration to oppose its endorsement.
The United States was one of 18 countries to vote against endorsing the report when the UN General Assembly voted on it Thursday. The report was endorsed, however, by a vote of 114-18, with 44 abstentions.
On Friday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he would send the report to the UN Security Council "as soon as possible," a move that could pave the way for eventual prosecution in international courts.
