(Communicated by the Deputy Foreign Minister's Bureau)
In anticipation of the vote in Geneva on the Goldstone Report, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon together with Foreign Ministry Director General Yossi Gal and Deputy Legal Adviser Daniel Taub briefed the foreign diplomats and the international media in Israel.
Deputy FM Ayalon called on the ambassadors to ignore the report and not to take any action based on it. "If the report is adopted," he said, "the Human Rights Council will become the 'Terror Rights Council'. The report denies democracies the right of self-defense and in effect protects terrorism."
Ayalon added that "Acceptance of the report would have a global effect on the struggle of the international community against extremists throughout the world." He also stressed that any endorsement of the report would deal a significant blow to the peace process with the Palestinians.