Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged a ‘lengthy fight’ against a United Nations report as the UK and France express support for Israel to ‘defend’ itself.

"We are now setting out to delegitimize those who try to delegitimize us. We will not tolerate it and we will respond on a case by case basis," Netanyahu told a special ministerial forum Friday night.

The forum was held following the decision by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to send the Goldstone report on Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip to the Security Council.

The rights assembly also adopted a resolution condemning Israel for the 22-day war in late 2008 against the Palestinians, which left at least 1,300 people dead.

The resolution has put Israel on the spotlight as leaders in Tel Aviv are facing growing international pressure.

In a letter to the Israeli premier, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy supported Israel’s right to defend itself against ‘terror’.

The two leaders also urged "independent, transparent investigation of Gaza events," Ynet reported.

France and Britain abstained from voting on the Goldstone report.

The 575-page report, written by South African war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone and three other international experts, accuses the Israeli army of the deliberate killing of Palestinian civilians among other accusations of war crimes.

US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said that the endorsement per se did not necessarily mean that the Security Council will indeed review the report.

Kelly said the resolution had "an unbalanced focus and we’re concerned that it will exacerbate polarization and divisiveness."

(Press TV)