U.N. General Assembly approves Goldstone resolution

Reactions were pretty predictable. In a short statement, Israel's ministry of foreign affairs said it has already published two reports about Goldstone's findings, and said it would continue its military investigation into possible war crimes committed during Operation Cast Lead.

Israel has already published two comprehensive reports relating to the Gaza Operation and the results of the investigations and their mechanisms. Israel, as a democratic country, will continue to conduct thorough investigations and to share the findings with its allies and with the UN Secretary General.

Israel will continue to exercise its right to defend its citizens, while maintaining the highest standards of moral behavior.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian observer at the United Nations, called the vote a "victory for the Palestinians and a victory for international law" -- because fewer countries voted "no" than did on the last Goldstone resolution, which was passed in November. He's right, though I'm not sure Mansour should base his argument on numbers: The number of "yes" votes also dropped, compared to November. (That resolution was approved 114-18, with 44 abstentions.)

Mansour also said the Palestinian Authority would conduct its own investigation of the report.

"We do not do so on the basis of any symmetry or proportionality between the Palestinian people under occupation and Israel, the occupying Power, for there is no equivalence whatsoever between the scope, scale, intensity and gravity of the Israeli aggression and crimes against our people and actions by the Palestinian side. Rather, those actions would be based on adherence to international law and the belief that such efforts would end Israel's culture of impunity."

Alejandro Wolff, the deputy U.S. representative to the United Nations, criticized the resolution and called the Goldstone Report biased.

We continue to believe that the Report of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, widely known as the Goldstone Report, is deeply flawed. We have previously noted shortcomings that include its unbalanced focus on Israel, the negative inferences it draws about Israel's intentions and actions, its failure to deal adequately with the asymmetrical nature of the Gaza conflict, and its failure to assign appropriate responsibility to Hamas for deliberately targeting civilians and basing itself and its operations in heavily civilian-populated urban areas. The Goldstone Report is also problematic in its many overreaching recommendations and its sweeping legal and political conclusions. The Report contains, as does the resolution just voted, a counterproductive recommendation to convene the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention and an inappropriate attempt to press action on the Security Council.

Hillary Clinton, the U.S. secretary of state, made a similar argument yesterday in testimony before the House of Representatives. Clinton said the report would be "problematic" for the U.S. and other countries fighting asymmetric wars.