Obama Administration Stands by Israel on Goldstone Report

Aaron Keyak — October 28, 2009 – 9:43 am | Barack Obama | Foreign Policy | Israel | Stop the Smears Comments (2) Add a comment

The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) today thanked the administration of President Barack Obama for clearly, repeatedly, and publicly standing with Israel in the face of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s recent Goldstone Commission report reviewing Israel’s role in the Gaza War.

U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell referred to the Goldstone Commission report last week as “one-sided and deeply flawed,” and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice has repeatedly stressed America’s concerns and the U.S. commitment to support Israel in the U.N. – most recently during last week’s meetings with President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, according to multiple press reports. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has previously registered her “grave concerns” about the report, as have State Department spokespersons and other administration officials.

“It is deeply gratifying that across the width and breadth of the Obama administration, so many voices have so quickly and so rightly assessed the danger posed by this irresponsible document,” said NJDC Chairman Emeritus Michael M. Adler. “This wildly unfair document vilifies Israel while imperiling this administration’s laudable efforts to pursue peace throughout the region. The United States’ vote against the findings of the Goldstone Commission further demonstrates that this administration gets it,” Adler added.

Adler also noted that during the NJDC 2009 Washington Conference on October 20 - 21, Ambassador of Israel to the U.S. Michael Oren spoke to this issue and applauded the Obama administration’s role in standing by Israel on the Goldstone Commission report. On October 21, Oren said to the NJDC gathering, “The administration came out with a statement against Goldstone that was from our perspective just perfect – condemned it as a travesty of justice, upheld Israel’s right not just to defend itself but to investigate itself during its own military operations. …[W]e know that the United States and the Obama administration stands foursquare beside us in this fight against the Goldstone Commission.”

Comments