The judge who presided over the inquiry into Operation Cast Lead but then retracted part of his findings has criticised those who accuse Israel of being an apartheid state.

South African judge Richard Goldstone said that the claim that Israel pursued "apartheid" policies was a "particularly pernicious and enduring canard" and one that, when employed, did "a disservice to all who hope for justic

The judge who presided over the inquiry into Operation Cast Lead but then retracted part of his findings has criticised those who accuse Israel of being an apartheid state.

The US Senate has agreed unanimously to a resolution calling on the United Nations to rescind the Goldstone report into Operation Cast Lead following comments by the author discrediting parts of it.

Two weeks ago Judge Richard Goldstone admitted in the Washington Post that the report had wrongly accused Israel of indiscriminately targeting civilians.

Judge Richard Goldstone's recent comments challenging the key findings of his report into Operation Cast Lead have been described by three other members of the probe as unjustified and an attempt to "misrepresent" the original document.

The Israeli government has called for an official retraction of the Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead in Gaza following Judge Richard Goldstone's admission that, contrary to his original report, Israel did not intentionally target civilians and the IDF had properly investigated any allegations of misconduct by its soldiers.

It is to Richard Goldstone's credit that he has now, a year and seven months after the publication of his eponymous report into Operation Cast Lead, changed his mind over its most damning and poisonous allegation.

The British Foreign Office has expressed continued support for the controversial Goldstone Report into IDF actions in Gaza two years ago, despite its author's recent statements questioning the findings.

Judge Richard Goldstone has been invited to visit Israel, following his admission that he did not stand by his damning report on Israeli military conduct during the Gaza war.

According to Israel's Interior Minister Eli Yishai, Judge Goldstone has accepted the offer, which would include a tour of southern Israeli communities affected by the barrage of rockets from Gaza.

Israeli politicians have called for the "immediate cancellation" of a UN report accusing Israel of war crimes in Gaza after its Jewish author retracted his "libel".

The delegitimisation of Israel reached a new peak last week with continued attacks on its democracy. But this time the damage was not done by private groups or foreign governments and anti-Israel lobbies. This time the worsening of its reputation as a state which values democracy and freedom of speech was caused directly by members of the Knesset.

No, not by Arab MKs critical of the occupation, but by extreme right-wing MKs, self-proclaimed super-patriots who falsely portray themselves as its defenders.

The Knesset vote in favour of a parliamentary commission of enquiry into the foreign sources of finance for Israeli human-rights groups has caused a political storm, not only between the right and left but also within the ruling Likud party.