The United States has indicated that it may replace the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) with “other means” for addressing human rights issues, unless the UN body significantly reforms its blatant anti-Israel bias, JNS reported on Thursday.
“We are either going to reform this thing and make it reflect what it should be reflecting or we will withdraw our support for it,” the report quoted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as having told a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.
If the U.S. withdraws from the UNHRC, Tillerson said Washington would “approach human rights issues on a multi-lateral basis with partners who see it the same way we do.”
The UNHRC continuously singles out Israel for criticism, while ignoring other conflicts in the region, such as the ongoing bloody civil war in Syria.
In March, the council passed a series of anti-Israel resolutions, including a motion condemning Israel for its construction in Judea, Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights and urging states and firms to avoid ties with “settlements”.
Just this past week, the UNHRC issued a report which offers to “advise and support” efforts to create a “blacklist” database of companies operating in Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights, and eastern Jerusalem, so that the international community could boycott them.
At the Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, which took place on Wednesday, Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL) told Tillerson, “I wish you would reconsider the $10 million you have in there for the UNHRC.” READ MORE
