NEW YORK (Press Release) — Malcolm Hoenlein, CEO/Executive Vice President of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations said “The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) was an important step that reflects the longstanding frustration and disappointment of the United States. The UNHRC has long been committed to an agenda that focuses on consistent attacks on Israel despite repeated protestations and warnings from the United States, Israel, and other countries. This has undermined the Council’s credibility and effectiveness, and its ability to promote and protect human rights globally.
“The United States has finally recognized that withdrawing was both a necessary and strategic decision, given the blatant bias consistently demonstrated by the Council. Between 2006-2016, the UNHRC condemned Israel 68 times, Syria 20 times, North Korea 9 times, Iran 7 times and Yemen 0 times, highlighting its hostile and biased agenda against the only democracy in the Middle East.
“We hope the United States’ decision will provide an impetus for the United Nations to consider meaningful reforms that would allow the Council to return to its original mission and abide by the principles on which it was founded.”
In a related development, World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder commented, “The WJC deeply appreciates the US’ strong and unyielding support for the State of Israel, and applauds US Ambassador Nikki Haley’s courageous efforts to call out the United Nations over its continuous obsessive focus and bias against the Jewish State. By withdrawing from the inherently flawed UN Human Rights Council, the US has sent a crucial message to the international community that the repeated abuses flung against Israel, often by some of the most notorious human rights violators in the world, will not be tolerated,” Lauder said.
“The WJC is critically invested in speaking out on the floor of the UNHRC and other UN bodies, and believes that engagement is key to effecting change. Over the last five years, we have held dozens of meetings in Geneva, and members of the WJC-Jewish Diplomatic Corps have delivered more than 60 statements on the floor, including an underlining of our opposition to the double standards exhibited against Israel at each session,” said Lauder.
“The value of an international body committed to defending human rights cannot be understated. However, the UNHRC is marred by a blatant anti-Israel bias and a persistent blind spot, which undermines its credibility. It has been politicized and misused by those whose only goal is to demonize the State of Israel. Israel is the only country with a permanent agenda item in the UNHRC, and since the establishment of the council in 2006, it has been targeted in nearly 70 of the 135 country-specific resolutions adopted,” Lauder added.
“The WJC will continue to engage within the UNHRC and with the permanent representations to work toward an impartial and effective UN human rights mechanism. We urge the UNHRC to focus on its mandate of addressing human rights abuses worldwide and drop its disproportionate focus and obsession with Israel. We profoundly hope that the US’ decision to withdraw will lead to soul-searching among the members of the council and bring about true change from within, including the removal of Agenda Item 7 and a calculated understanding that Israel must be treated as any other country,” he said.
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Preceding provided by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and by the World Jewish Congress