President Shimon Peres will ask United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to nullify Judge Richard Goldstone's damning report on the Gaza war in light of the author's expression of regret regarding some of his claims, sources told Haaretz on Wednesday.

Peres has held talks with a number of senior U.S. officials including President Barack Obama over the course of his visit, and is scheduled to meet with Ban on Friday.

Open gallery view President Shimon Peres speaking during the Millennium Development Goals Summit at the UN in New York on September 20, 2010. Credit: AP

In an op-ed for the Washington Post last week, Goldstone backtracking on his accusation that Israel had targeted during Operation Cast Lead two years ago.

Despite Peres' expected request, however, Foreign Ministry sources said earlier this week that Israel would most probably be unable to bring about the cancellation of the report.

In the best of circumstances, say Foreign Ministry sources, it might be possible for the UN General Assembly to adopt a new resolution concluding that an earlier resolution, passed a year ago, which fully adopted the Goldstone Report, is no longer valid.

Following calls to rescind the report, the council has said it will continue to treat the report as a legitimate working document. Spokesman Cedric Sapey told the AP on Monday that Goldstone would have to submit a formal request for the report to be withdrawn. Goldstone himself said Tuesday he did not plan to seek nullification of the report.

Last month, a majority of the council's 47 members voted to pass the report up to the General Assembly, recommending the powerful UN Security Council be asked to submit it to prosecutors at the International Criminal Court.

Such a move is unlikely to pass the Security Council, where Israel's strongest ally, the United States, has veto power. But the mere suggestion of bringing war crimes charges has infuriated Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded that the entire report be annulled and assigned National Security Adviser Ya'akov Amidror to set up a joint team of staff from the Foreign, Defense and Justice ministries with the task of formulating political and legal recommendations following Goldstone's article.

Netanyahu said that "we will try to undo some of the damage caused," and that it was his goal "to see the report canceled."

Foreign Ministry sources however said that in the best of circumstances, it might be possible for the UN General Assembly to adopt a new resolution concluding that an earlier resolution, passed a year ago, which fully adopted the Goldstone Report, is no longer valid.

