US considering withdrawing support for UN body over ‘chronic anti-Israel bias’

The United States has said it is considering its support for the United Nations Human Rights Council, citing its “chronic anti-Israel bias”.

Nikki Haley, US Ambassador to the UN, made the threat after the UN human rights chief opened a session in Geneva by condemning the 50-year Israeli occupation.

Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called on Israel to withdraw from land captured in the Six-Day War in 1967, criticising “a half-century of deep suffering under an occupation imposed by military force”.

Get The Jewish News Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

However Haley hit back, suggesting Donald Trump’s administration could pull support from the body, just as George W. Bush did before the decision was reversed by Barack Obama.

She highlighted the Council’s continuing focus on Israel when other human rights abusers – namely Iran and Venezuela – remain off the institution’s radar.

“The United States is looking carefully at this council and our participation in it,” she said. “We see some areas for significant strengthening.”

She added: “It is hard to accept that this council has never considered a resolution on Venezuela and yet it adopted five biased resolutions, in March, against a single country, Israel. It is essential that this council address its chronic anti-Israel bias if it is to have any credibility.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the UNHRC a “circus” and ceased working with it four years ago, when it decided to investigate Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Israel’s supporters have long complained of hypocrisy, pointing to the human rights records of some of the 47-member Council’s members, including China, Russia, Algeria and Saudi Arabia.

Zeid, a Jordanian prince, told the Geneva delegates at the opening of the body’s three-week session that Israel’s withdrawal from captured territories “would benefit both sides” and that Israel also deserved freedom from violence.

However he said Israel’s rule of the West Bank and east Jerusalem “has denied the Palestinians many of their most fundamental freedoms, and has often been brutal in the way it has been realised”.

He added that it was “an occupation whose violations of international law have been systematic, and have been condemned time and again by virtually all states”.

Support your Jewish community. Support your Jewish News

Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.

For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.

Read more

Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.

You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.

100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...

Engaging

Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.

Celebrating

There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.

Pioneering

In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.

Campaigning

Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.

Easy access

In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.

Voice of our community to wider society

The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.

We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.

Help us here