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Yoffie: The UN Human Rights Council endorsement of the Goldstone report does not further the cause of peace, or give reason for Israel to believe the international community takes seriously the significant security issues with which it contends.

NEW YORK, October 18th, 2009 – In response to Friday's United Nations Human Rights Council endorsement of the Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, issued the following statement:

Last winter's Israeli military operation in Gaza was tragic for many reasons, among them the years of rocket attacks on the people of Sderot and other Israeli communities that made such action necessary, the loss of life among Israeli and Palestinian civilians, and the toll any military action takes on the lives of soldiers and their families.  Unfortunately, the recent report written by a commission chaired by jurist Richard Goldstone accusing both the Israeli government and Hamas of committing war crimes during the military engagement primarily critiques Israel and ignores crucial facts. This flawed report does not reflect the reality of the situation, as it existed, including the fact that much of the fighting was conducted in urban neighborhoods and that the enemy purposefully launched attacks from densely populated civilian areas.

Israel must, of course, give real consideration to the way in which Cast Lead was conducted, including whether all steps were taken to avoid the loss of civilian life.  But the UN Human Rights Council endorsement of the Goldstone report does not further the cause of peace, or give reason for Israel to believe the international community takes seriously the significant security issues with which it contends.  We applaud those nations on the UNHRC that did not vote to endorse this report and call on the UN to conclude its consideration of it.

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The Union for Reform Judaism is the synagogue arm of Reform Judaism and the largest Jewish movement in North America, representing 1.5 million Reform Jews in more than 920 congregations across the United States and Canada.