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Goldstone Has Made Things More Difficult for Mitchell

[Jerusalem Post] Herb Keinon - U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell is trying to put together a package that would make everyone happy enough to agree to sit down and talk. Mitchell wants a settlement moratorium, but he also wants to see steps from the PA and the Arab world. And then along comes South African Judge Richard Goldstone and his UN Human Rights Council-commissioned report and throws a tremendous wrench into the works. If Mitchell thought it was rough getting the Arab world to make normalization gestures before Goldstone issued his report alleging Israeli war crimes in Gaza, one can only imagine how difficult it will be now. And the report does not exactly give Israel confidence that if it withdraws from further territory, the world will recognize its right to self-defense. When Israel withdrew from Gaza to the last Jew, there were those who said that if one missile fell on Israel, the country would have all the legitimacy in the world to take military action to defend its citizens. But as Goldstone made painfully clear, that hasn't exactly turned out to be the case - something that will undoubtedly give the country's leaders pause before making further concessions.
2009-09-18 08:00:00
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