Rarely does a human rights investigation cause the kind of geopolitical ruckus that has been generated by the U.N. probe into last winter's fighting in Gaza that left more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead. Israel is mounting an eleventh hour diplomatic blitz to scupper U.N. discussion of the Human Rights Council investigation led by South African judge Richard Goldstone, which accuses its army and Palestinian Hamas militants of committing war crimes. Israel insists the probe is biased and, in the words of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, "twisted, fraudulent and tendentious." At a Security Council meeting of the issue on Wednesday, Israel's ambassador Gabriela Shalev said the report "favors and legitimizes terrorism" and that even discussing it distracted from more pressing issues such as the peace process. On the... [read full story]
