Lieberman, Goldstone, trade verbal snipes over Gaza

Oct 20, 2009, 20:44 GMT

Jerusalem - Israel Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman Tuesday became the latest voice in Israel to condemn the Goldstone report on the Gaza war, calling it a danger to the Middle East peace process.

The ultra-conservative Lieberman made his remarks during a meeting with the European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, according to media reports.

Solana also met with the Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak.

South Africa's former chief judge Richard Goldstone headed an international panel to probe the December-January fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza that killed 1,400 Palestinians and 10 Israelis.

The report, which found evidence of war crimes on both sides but was more critical of Israel, was adopted last week by the UN Human Rights Council.

On Sunday, Goldstone held a telephone conference with 150 US rabbis in which he dismissed Israel's charges that his report damaged peace prospects.

'That just is a shallow, I believe, false allegation,' Goldstone quipped in the phone conference. 'What peace process are they talking about? There isn't one. The Israeli foreign minister doesn't want one at all.'