TEL AVIV- Israel on Wednesday pressed its campaign against a UN report on the Gaza war that accused it of war crimes as the General Assembly prepared to vote on a non-binding resolution on the inquiry.
"There is nothing more cynical than this report," Israel's Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai told military radio.
"Our army is the most moral in the world," he said, adding that Israel's military "will continue to apply its own criteria, regardless of any report."
The UN Human Rights Council report, authored by the respected former war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, accuses both Israel and Palestinian resistance of war crimes during the Gaza war at the turn of the year.
Some 1,400 Palestinians (overwhelmingly civilians) and 13 Israelis (mainly soldiers) were killed during the fighting, which erupted when Israel launched a massive air assault on December 27 followed by a ground invasion.
Israel has insisted the report is biased against it, and on Tuesday Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon held a special meeting with foreign ambassadors to Israel to try to convince them to vote against the report.
The General Assembly was on Wednesday expected to vote on a draft resolution floated by Arab delegates that would require UN chief Ban Ki-moon to bring the Goldstone report before the Security Council.
The non-binding resolution could easily be adopted by the General Assembly, even if the United States and other countries vote against it as expected, as it is likely to earn the support of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77 developing nations.
But at the Security Council, it faces a US veto threat and is unlikely to obtain the nine out of 15-vote majority to pass.
Meanwhile, the pro-Israel US House of Representatives condemned Tuesday the UN Goldstone report.
By a margin of 344-36, lawmakers approved a non-binding resolution that calls the report "irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy."
The symbolic measure also urges Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "to strongly and unequivocally oppose" any discussion of the report or action on its findings in any international setting.
Goldstone recommended that Israel and Hamas face possible prosecution in The Hague if they fail to conduct credible investigations within six months.
On Monday, Human Rights Watch urged lawmakers not to back the resolution, said the Goldstone report "presents an opportunity to pursue justice for the victims in Gaza and Israel."
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