British Premier Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu overnight, saying that while they realized that the UN’s Goldstone Report on the Gaza war was “a sensitive issue for Israel and the Palestinians,” they still urge temperateness from both sides.
The letter was sent following France and Britain’s decision to abstain from the UN Human Rights Council vote on the report. Paris and London, said the letter, recognize “Israel’s right to defend itself “and are “convinced peace would guarantee Israel’s security best.” The two also urged Netanyahu to hold “an independent and transparent investigation of the events in Gaza, whose results were shared with us.” Netanyahu was also asked to “facilitate increased access to Gaza, including the opening of crossings for humanitarian convoys” and to “halt to settlement activity in occupied territories and the resumption of negotiations on the basis of parameters recalled by President (Barack) Obama in his speech to the UN
