From Howard Kohr, AIPAC Executive Director:

It’s an abomination! After years of silence while Israeli towns were bombarded with more than 6,300 Hamas rockets and mortars, the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) last week issued a report accusing Israel of committing war crimes during its defensive operation against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip this winter.

Israeli President Shimon Peres said the report “makes a mockery of history and fails to distinguish between aggressor and those acting in self-defense.”

Fortunately, the U.S. thus far has continued to stand by Israel’s side. Just hours after the report was issued, leaders in the House made numerous statements on behalf of Israel’s right to self defense.

As statements from Congressional leaders continue to come in, I wanted to share just a couple below:

“But for the grave subject matter, the Goldstone report would be laughable. In the self-righteous fantasyland inhabited by the authors, there’s no such thing as terrorism, there’s no such thing as Hamas, there’s no such thing as legitimate self-defense, and war is like a sporting event or a debate…Certainly, the United States should do all that it can to ensure as little time as possible is wasted on this distraction from the real work of making peace.”

–Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia

“It would appear the UN is continuing its relentless anti-Israel bias, accusing the Jewish state of war crimes and crimes against humanity….Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly kicks off another year of anti-U.S., anti-Israel, and anti-freedom activism.”

–Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee