Israel Boycotts U.N. Human Rights Council

YERUSHALAYIM

Israel boycotted the U.N.’s human rights forum Tuesday, in retaliation for years of biased treatment.

Foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told Reuters that Israel had announced it was “suspending indefinitely its participation in the U.N. Human Rights Council work. This policy has not changed.”

Since its beginnings in 2006, the council has censured Israel more than any other country, and even created a special mechanism, Agenda Item 7, that ensures Israel’s activity in Yehudah and Shomron is a subject of debate at every session. Israel cut its ties with the UNHRC in March.

U.N. Watch’s Hillel Neuer slammed the Council, saying that “a jury of brigands is not justice, it’s a travesty.”

“We regret that today’s resolution failed to acknowledge the elephant in the room: the council’s systematic bias against Israel,” he said.

By boycotting the meeting, Israel became the first country ever to decline to attend a session that was due to scrutinize its own rights record.

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