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Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Wednesday announced Israel's withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council. In doing so, Israel joins the United States, which announced its withdrawal on Tuesday.
"The UNHRC has traditionally protected human rights abusers by allowing them to hide from scrutiny, and instead obsessively demonizes the one democracy in the Middle East - Israel ," Saar said in making the announcement.
Israel had the status of an observer on the Council. Israel previously withdrew from the Council in 2012 and returned in 2015.
Saar's full statement reads: "Israel welcomes President Trump’s decision not to participate in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Israel joins the United States and will not participate in the UNHRC.
"The UNHRC has traditionally protected human rights abusers by allowing them to hide from scrutiny, and instead obsessively demonizes the one democracy in the Middle East - Israel.
"This body has focused on attacking a democratic country and propagating antisemitism, instead of promoting human rights.
"The discrimination against us is clear:
"In the UNHRC, Israel is the only country with an agenda item dedicated solely to it. Israel has been subjected to over 100 condemnatory resolutions, over 20% of all resolutions ever passed in the Council - more than against Iran, Cuba, North Korea and Venezuela combined."
Following Israel's withdrawal as an observer, Israel's ambassador to the UN institutions in Geneva, Daniel Meron, will no longer attend the discussions, but he will also not be returned to the country, as he represents Israel in other UN bodies that are based in the city.
The UNHRC did not condemn the Hamas' massacre on October 7, 2023.
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President Donald Trump signs executive orders withdrawing the US from UNRWA and UNHRC
(Photo: Jim Watson / POOL / AFP)
On Tuesday night, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a presidential order ordering the withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council and UNRWA, saying that "the U.S. disproportionately funds the UN."
A political source emphasized Wednesday evening that the UNHRC is made up of countries that represent the complete opposite of respecting human rights, and that trample human rights underfoot, such as Algeria and Cuba. "This is a body known for its discriminatory attitude toward Israel, which also cries out against the backdrop of its almost complete disregard for real human rights criminals in countries like Iran, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela and North Korea," he said.
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According to the source, the distortion in the Human Rights Council reached "another low point when it did not even find it appropriate to condemn Hamas' horrific massacre on October 7. In light of the Council's ongoing discrimination since its establishment, Israel decided to suspend its relations with the Council in Geneva."
Saar's announcement comes hours before United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will tell a U.N. meeting later on Wednesday that in the search for solutions in the Gaza Strip after the war between Israel and Palestinian militants "we must not make the problem worse," his spokesperson said after U.S. President Donald Trump proposed that the U.S. to take over war-ruined enclave.
"It is vital that we stay true to the bedrock of international law. It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing," Guterres will say, said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, adding that he would also reaffirm the two-state solution.