Congress needs to stop letting Israel get off easy for violating international law.

On Nov. 3, the House of Representatives voted to discredit a U.N. report that accuses both Israel and Hamas of war crimes in the three-week war last January. The House reflexively backed Israel by a vote of 334-36, with 22 abstentions.

This vote was as immoral as it was counterproductive.

The U.N. report is known as the Goldstone report, after its leader, Richard Goldstone, who is a South African judge with an impeccable reputation and an extensive experience in international criminal justice. Incidentally, Goldstone is of Jewish background; his record in support of Israel is solid.

On Sept. 15, he released his report, entitled “United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.” Last month, the U.N. Human Rights Council endorsed it.

The report accused Israel of applying disproportionate force on Gaza and of not protecting civilian lives. Israel killed 1,400 people in the Gaza invasion, many of them civilians. During this invasion, 13 Israelis were killed.

The report also charged Hamas with unlawfully shelling rockets on civilian neighborhoods in Israel, actions designed to create terror.

But this was not good enough for the House. Its resolution called on the president and the secretary of state “to oppose unequivocally” the Goldstone report.

This sends a signal to Israel that it can get away with aggression.

It tells Palestinians that Congress cares nothing for them.

And it tells the Arab and Muslim worlds that Washington is not their friend.

The House resolution proves that rational debate in the Congress about Israeli policy is taboo. Until that taboo is lifted, we cannot expect progress in Mideast peace talks.

Ghassan Michel Rubeiz, a social scientist and political commentator, is the former secretary of the Middle East for the Geneva-based World Council of Churches. He can be reached at pmproj [at] progressive [dot] org.