Nicole Goldstone, the daughter of Richard Goldstone, whose report on Operation Cast Lead alleged that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza, maintained on Wednesday that her father “is a Zionist and loves Israel.”

Speaking from Toronto, where she now lives, Nicole told Army Radio she had many conversations with her father after he was asked to head the UN inquiry.

“I know better than anyone else that he thought however hard it was to accept it, he was doing the best thing for everyone, including Israel,” she said. “He is honest, tells things how he sees them and wants to uncover the truth.”

Nicole, who said she had read the first 300 and last 100 pages of the report, conceded that it contained some “very harsh” allegations against Israel.

She said she planned to host her parents in Toronto for Rosh Hashana, and that while speaking with her father following the report’s release, he had quipped, “Are you sure we can still come?”

Nicole insisted that the fact the report also accused the Palestinians of crimes against humanity showed that her father tried to be balanced.

“I am not angry with him. I love him and respect him,” she said.

“He is a Zionist,” she added. “My dad loves Israel and it wasn’t easy for him to see and hear what happened. I think he heard and saw things he didn’t expect to see and hear, and I am 100 percent sure he [conducted the investigation] in the hope that the Israelis would come to cooperate, and he wanted to help find a long-term solution for the State of Israel.”

Nicole, who lived in Israel for six months, said that the country “is the most important thing in my life, my heart is there…. I love Israel more than my family and friends and anything else.”