Sec. 601. Findings

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Congress finds the following: On January 12, 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed Resolution A/HRC/S–9/L.1, which authorized a fact-finding mission regarding Israel’s conduct of Operation Cast Lead against violent militants in the Gaza Strip between December 27, 2008, and January 18, 2009. The resolution pre-judged the outcome of its investigation by one-sidedly mandating the fact-finding mission to . investigate all violations of international human rights law and International Humanitarian Law by … Israel, against the Palestinian people … particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, due to the current aggression The mandate of the fact-finding mission makes no mention of the relentless rocket and mortar attacks, which numbered in the thousands and spanned a period of eight years, by Hamas and other violent militant groups in Gaza against civilian targets in Israel, that necessitated Israel’s defensive measures.

The fact-finding mission included a member who, before joining the mission, had already declared Israel guilty of committing atrocities in Operation Cast Lead by signing a public letter on January 11, 2009, published in the Sunday Times, that called Israel’s actions war crimes . The mission’s flawed and biased mandate gave serious concern to many United Nations Human Rights Council Member States which refused to support it, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The mission’s flawed and biased mandate was never broadened or revised by any plenary meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council, and troubled many distinguished individuals who refused invitations to head the mission. On September 15, 2009, the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict released its report, which is commonly referred to as the Goldstone Report . The Goldstone Report repeatedly made sweeping and unsubstantiated determinations that the Israeli military had deliberately attacked civilians during Operation Cast Lead.

The authors of the Goldstone Report admit that . we did not deal with the issues … regarding the problems of conducting military operations in civilian areas and second-guessing decisions made by soldiers and their commanding officers in the fog of war. In the October 16, 2009, edition of the Jewish Daily Forward, Richard Goldstone, the head of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict , is quoted as saying, with respect to the mission’s evidence-collection methods, .

If this was a court of law, there would have been nothing proven The Goldstone Report, in effect, denied the State of Israel the right to self-defense, and never noted the fact that Israel had the right to defend its citizens from the repeated violent attacks committed against civilian targets in southern Israel by Hamas and other Foreign Terrorist Organizations operating from Gaza. The Goldstone Report largely ignored the culpability of the Government of Iran and the Government of Syria, both of whom sponsor Hamas and other Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

The Goldstone Report usually considered public statements made by Israeli officials not to be credible, while frequently giving uncritical credence to statements taken from what it called the Gaza authorities , i.e., the Gaza leadership of Hamas. Notwithstanding a great body of evidence that Hamas and other violent Islamist groups committed war crimes by using civilians and civilian institutions, such as mosques, schools, and hospitals, as shields, the Goldstone Report repeatedly downplayed or cast doubt upon that claim.

In one notable instance, the Goldstone Report stated that it did not consider the admission of a Hamas official that Hamas often specifically to created a human shield of women, children, the elderly and the mujahideen, against [the Israeli military] . constitute evidence that Hamas forced Palestinian civilians to shield military objectives against attack Hamas was able to significantly shape the findings of the investigation mission’s Goldstone Report by selecting and prescreening some of the witnesses and intimidating others, as the Goldstone Report acknowledges when it notes that . those interviewed in Gaza appeared reluctant to speak about the presence of or conduct of hostilities by the Palestinian armed groups … from a fear of reprisals Even though Israel is a vibrant democracy with a vigorous and free press, the Goldstone Report erroneously asserts that . actions of the Israeli government … have contributed significantly to a political climate in which dissent with the government and its actions … is not tolerated The Goldstone Report recommended that the United Nations Human Rights Council endorse its recommendations, implement them, review their implementation, and refer the report to the United Nations Security Council, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and the United Nations General Assembly for further action.

The Goldstone Report recommended that the United Nations Security Council— require the Government of Israel to launch further investigations of its conduct during Operation Cast Lead and report back to the Security Council within 6 months; simultaneously appoint an independent committee of experts to monitor and report on any domestic legal or other proceedings undertaken by the Government of Israel within that 6-month period; and refer the case to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court after that 6-month period.

The Goldstone Report recommended that the United Nations General Assembly consider further action on the report and establish an escrow fund, to be funded entirely by the State of Israel, to during Operation Cast Lead. pay adequate compensation to Palestinians who have suffered loss and damage The Goldstone Report ignored the issue of compensation to Israelis who have been killed or wounded, or suffered other loss and damage, as a result of years of past and continuing rocket and mortar attacks by Hamas and other violent militant groups in Gaza against civilian targets in southern Israel.

The Goldstone Report recommended and that that States Parties to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 start criminal investigations [of Operation Cast Lead] in national courts, using universal jurisdiction . following investigation, alleged perpetrators should be arrested and prosecuted The concept of universal jurisdiction has frequently been used in attempts to detain, charge, and prosecute Israeli and United States officials and former officials in connection with unfounded allegations of war crimes and has often unfairly impeded the travel of those individuals.

On September 20, 2009, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay wrote, . I lend my full support to Justice Goldstone’s report and its recommendations The State of Israel, like many other free democracies, has an independent judicial system with a robust investigatory capacity and has already launched numerous investigations, many of which remain ongoing, of Operation Cast Lead and individual incidents therein. Several nations have indicated that they intend to further pursue consideration of the Goldstone Report and implementation of its recommendations by the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Human Rights Council, and other multilateral fora.

On September 30, 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the underlying mandate for the Goldstone Report as one-sided . On September 17, 2009, Ambassador Susan Rice, United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, expressed the United States underlying the Goldstone Report and noted that the United States views the mandate very serious concern with the mandate . as unbalanced, one-sided and basically unacceptable Israeli President Shimon Peres has called the Goldstone Report a blood libel .

The Goldstone Report reflects the longstanding, historic bias at the United Nations against the democratic, Jewish State of Israel. The Goldstone Report is being exploited by Israel’s enemies to excuse the actions of violent militant groups and their state sponsors, and to justify isolation of and punitive measures against the democratic, Jewish State of Israel. On November 3, 2009, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly adopted House Resolution 867, which stated that the House of Representatives: ; considers the [Goldstone Report] to be irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy ; supports the Administration’s efforts to combat anti-Israel bias at the United Nations, its characterization of the [Goldstone Report] as unbalanced, one-sided and basically unacceptable , and its opposition to the resolution on the report ; calls on the President and the Secretary of State to continue to strongly and unequivocally oppose any endorsement of the [Goldstone Report] in multilateral fora, including through leading opposition to any United Nations General Assembly resolution and through vetoing, if necessary, any United Nations Security Council resolution that endorses the contents of this report, seeks to act upon the recommendations contained in this report, or calls on any other international body to take further action regarding this report ; and calls on the President and the Secretary of State to strongly and unequivocally oppose any further consideration of the Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict and any other measures stemming from this report in multilateral fora . reaffirms its support for the democratic, Jewish State of Israel, for Israel’s security and right to self-defense, and, specifically, for Israel’s right to defend its citizens from violent militant groups and their state sponsors On October 16, 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted 25–6 (with 11 Member States abstaining and 5 not voting, and with the United States voting against) to adopt resolution A–HRC–S–12–1, which endorsed the Goldstone Report and condemned Israel, without mentioning Hamas, other such violent militant groups, or their state sponsors.

The United States voted against the resolution. On November 5, 2009, the United Nations General Assembly voted 114–18 (with 44 Member States abstaining, and with the United States voting against) to adopt resolution A/RES/64/10, which, among other things: endorsed the United Nations Human Rights Council’s resolution A–HRC–S–12–1, which endorsed the Goldstone Report and condemned Israel, without mentioning Hamas, other such violent militant groups, or their state sponsors; requested that the Secretary General of the United Nations transmit the Goldstone Report to the United Nations Security Council; expressed its appreciation to the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict for its comprehensive report ; expressed grave concern regarding reports regarding serious human rights violations during Operation Cast Lead, including the findings in the Goldstone Report; and recommended in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and that the Government of Switzerland, in its capacity as depositary of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, undertake as soon as possible the steps necessary to reconvene a Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention on measures to enforce the Convention East Jerusalem .

On February 26, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly voted 98–7 (with 31 Member States abstaining, and with the United States voting against) to adopt resolution A/RES/64/254, which built on the determinations of A/RES/64/10. On March 24, 2010, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted 29–6 (with 11 Member States abstaining and one not voting, and with the United States voting against) to adopt resolution A/HRC/13/L.30, which, among other things— called upon ; all concerned parties, including United Nations bodies, to ensure their implementation of the recommendations contained in the [Goldstone Report] requested that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights submit a in May and June 2010; and progress report on the implementation of the present resolution to the [Human Rights] Council at its fourteenth session decided to of the Human Rights Council in September 2010. follow up on the implementation of the present resolution at [the] fifteenth session On March 25, 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted 27–3 (with 16 Member States abstaining, and with the United States voting against) to adopt resolution A/HRC/16/L.31, which, among other things— called upon ; all concerned parties, including United Nations bodies, to ensure the full and immediate implementation of the recommendations contained in the [Goldstone Report] recommended that the United Nations General Assembly again consider the Goldstone Report at its sixty-sixth session, and urged the General Assembly to submit the report to the United Nations Security Council including referral to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court; for its consideration and appropriate action, requested that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights submit a ; and progress report on the implementation of the present resolution to the Human Rights Council at its eighteenth session of September 2011 decided to . follow up on the implementation of the present resolution at [the] nineteenth session [of the Human Rights Council] of March 2012 On April 1, 2011, Richard Goldstone, the head of the that authored the Goldstone Report, wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post that renounced the Goldstone Report’s claim that the Israeli military deliberately attacked civilians during Operation Cast Lead.

Goldstone wrote that the Israeli military’s investigations with respect to incidents in Operation Cast Lead United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict . indicate that civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy Efforts to delegitimize the democratic State of Israel and deny it the right to defend its citizens and its existence can be used to delegitimize other democracies and deny them the same right.