U.N. accused of setting up Israeli officials

'Real danger' is that unsupported war crimes charges will develop

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An organization that holds special "consultative status" with a branch of the United Nations is accusing the international body of setting up Israeli officials for unjustified war crimes prosecutions with a biased report on the nation's 2008 conflict with Hamas.

The charge is being leveled by officials with the European Centre for Law and Justice, an international law firm focusing on the protection of human rights and religious freedom in Europe and worldwide.

In an evaluation of the U.N.'s Goldstone Report on the military conflict, the ECLJ challenged the objectivity of the report that levels accusations of war crimes against Israel and "encourages states and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to exercise universal jurisdiction to prosecute the Israelis."

"The real danger from the Goldstone Report is that countries will believe the many falsehoods contained in it and urge the International Criminal Court to try Israeli officials for war crimes that they did not commit and, in fact, took Herculean measures to avoid," said Robert Ash, a senior litigation counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, the ECLJ's American division, and an attorney who worked extensively on the report. More>>