Bethlehem - Ma’an - US State Department spokesperson on the Middle East Ian Kelly refused to comment Wednesday on whether or not the US would use their veto in the Security Council over the issue of the Goldstone report.
“We recognize that the allegations in the [Goldstone] report need to be investigated thoroughly, and we, of course, were very concerned about the number of civilians who were killed in this operation. But again, we need to stay focused on this long-term goal of addressing the underlying causes for the whole conflict,” Kelly told reporters at the State Department following the UN Security Council decision to bump up a meeting on the Middle East to 14 October.
An emergency session of the UNSC was held Wednesday to discuss the issue of addressing the Goldstone report, but delegates decided a second emergency session dedicated to the report was unnecessary, but compromised and moved the special session on the Middle East, originally scheduled for 20 October, up by six days.
While Libya is adamant that the report be the central point of discussion, Kelly said he did not think UNSC members will be “discussing the overall issue, though, which is the Goldstone report.”
Explaining US motives for postponing discussion, Kelly said “we are at a sensitive time in trying to re-launch these negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Senator Mitchell arrived this morning to resume these talks with the Israelis and Palestinians, and we think that we should all stay focused on that objective of addressing the underlying causes of the tragic events that are covered in the Goldstone report, which is the lack of a comprehensive peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians and a solution to this longstanding conflict, which we believe, and which both sides also believe – they share the same goal of having two states living side by side in peace and security.
“What we wanted to do was defer discussion of it so it wouldn't become an impediment to the talks going on which are designed to develop the resumption of talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians…we are focused on is a long-term objective of getting to a point where we can talk about a real solution to the problems that caused these terrible events in Gaza,” he said.
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