Following high-level meetings in Washington, President Shimon Peres on Wednesday met in UN headquarters in NYC with UN Secretary-General Bank ki-Moon, slamming the report released by the international agency, which target�s the IDF�s performance in Operation Cast Lead, the IDF�s counter-terrorism offensive in Gaza.

Mr. Peres stated that Israel and the IDF totally cooperated with United Nations investigators, but the report was nevertheless �one-sided and superficial�.We do not accept a single word of the report, which totally ignores Hamas� responsibility, its murderous and treacherous actions�.

In a sharp attack against the UN, the president questioned exactly from where did 4,000 rockets come from – the rockets that pounded children in southern Israel for years before Cast Lead was launched. He stressed the IDF did everything possible to avoid and minimize collateral damage to Gazan civilians, but it is a fact that Hamas based itself deep in civilian population centers. Bombs and weapons were stored in and fired from mosques and children�s homes. �There were mistakes, but I do not know of any war which did not include mistakes. We did not wish to kill or injure a single civilian. War is terrible. Our soldiers were killed as well�.

Moon spoke of the timing of the president�s visit, calling it a �sensitive time� between Israel and her neighbors, adding he worked to tone down the report, which is significantly milder than the first version which was presented to him for approval. He promised that in the future, the UN will not conduct any investigations against Israel without totally involving Israeli governmental officials.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)