Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) issued the following statement after Richard Goldstone, the author of the flawed United Nations’ “Goldstone Commission,” recanted his opinion that Israel committed human rights abuses during the Gaza conflict in 2008-09.

“I have believed all along that this report was a sham, and I said so publicly back in September 2009.  As I said then, Israel took extraordinary steps in protecting its civilian population from rocket fire from Hamas terrorists who control Gaza.  Israel took every reasonable step to avoid civilian casualties – dropping leaflets, not striking with civilians present, phone calls warning civilians to leave unsafe areas.  Israel has the right to defend its citizens, just as any other country would if bombed by terrorists.

“The Goldstone Report was just one of many instances of the United Nations showing a bias against Israel, something Mr. Goldstone himself mentioned in his recant.  It has gotten to the point where Israel no longer trusts the U.N., and that is a very unfortunate development.  If the U.N. ever conducts another inquiry into a Middle East nation, it needs to end the bias against Israel and treat the only true Middle East democracy with the respect it has earned and deserves. 

“Now that Mr. Goldstone has seen the error of his ways, it is time for the United Nations to retract the report.  I will say this to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice when they visit the House Foreign Affairs Committee later this week.

“The report was biased against Israel from the very start and I am glad to see Mr. Goldstone retract his earlier false findings.  That said, with the apology coming two years after the event, the damage from that report has been done.  Israel’s name has been dragged through the mud and that cannot be changed.   Perhaps this will stop the international community from rushing to judgment against Israel in the future – but I doubt it.

“Hamas terrorists want only to destroy Israel – that is the root to this problem.  They are willing to risk their own people, even their own children, to accomplish this. I’d like to welcome Mr. Goldstone to the light on this issue, and only wish he had seen it before his original report saw the light of day.”

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