Rabbi Pesach Lerner Calls On US to Condemn Goldstone Report

The National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) today called on the United States to immediately condemn the Goldstone Report, a nearly 600-page report prepared by former South African Judge Richard Goldstone about Israel’s military operations in Gaza last winter. The report alleges that Israel committed war crimes during the military conflict.

In a letter to President Barack Obama, NCYI President Shlomo Z. Mostofsky and NCYI Executive Vice President Rabbi Pesach Lerner expressed dismay over the United States’ position on the report and its desire to postpone any action on the report by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

“The delay empowers those nations whose animosity towards the State of Israel is well-known and well-documented and seeks to marginalize Israel’s legitimacy in the international community,” wrote Mostofsky and Rabbi Lerner. “We believe that the United States should take definitive and decisive action to denounce the Goldstone Report and condemn its prejudicial and outrageous findings.”

The National Council of Young Israel noted that the Goldstone report wrongly criticizes Israel for its actions during the Gaza conflict in December 2008 and January 2009. In their letter, Mostofsky and Lerner wrote that the report contains a disproportionate amount of criticism of Israel as opposed to Hamas, a recognized terrorist organization that fired thousands of deadly rockets at innocent Israeli men, women, and children, and used civilians as human shields.

The report “fails to acknowledge Israel’s inherent right to defend its citizenry from unprovoked acts of aggression and terrorism,” wrote Mostofsky and Lerner. “It inexplicably mislabels Israel’s acts of self defense as human rights violations. In essence, the report’s findings condone terrorism. We respectfully believe that this report warrants an immediate and clear condemnation by the United States.”

Mostofsky and Rabbi Lerner also noted that the Goldstone Report “fails to discuss the extensive efforts that Israel undertook to avoid civilian casualties; steps that far exceeded efforts to protect civilians that have been taken by other countries engaged in military operations.”

{Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}