Israeli Leaders Blast Human Rights Council on Blacklist

Israeli leaders on both sides of the political divide strongly condemned the U.N. Human Rights Council’s publication on Wednesday of a list of 112 firms operating in Yehuda and Shomron.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu dismissed the UNHRC list, saying that U.S. support trumps it.

“We will ensure the (U.S.) recognition of our sovereignty over those settlements — that will cancel out the entire impact of the United Nations because the United States is more important than the U.N.,” Netanyahu told Army Radio. “We’ll fight this with all our strength.”

President Reuven Rivlin responded that “boycotting Israeli companies does not advance the cause of peace and does not build confidence between the sides. We call on our friends around the world to speak out against this shameful initiative, which recalls dark periods in our history.”

Rivlin praised Israeli companies included on the list as “patriots.”

Though his office doesn’t promote individual firms, “when Israeli businesses are under the threat of boycott, we will stand with them,” Rivlin said, according to The Times of Israel.

Opposition leader Benny Gantz also called it “a dark day for human rights,” adding in his tweet that the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has “lost touch with reality.”

“The U.N. again proved it is a biased, non-neutral body that acts against the State of Israel. We fully condemn the publication of the list, which has clear anti-Semitic features,” the Yesha Council umbrella group said in a statement.

The Yamina party asserted that the “blacklist” underlines the need to extend Israeli sovereignty to Yehuda and Shomron, which it has been urging since the Trump peace plan was unveiled.

“The hypocritical organization with special standards for Israel won’t deter us from realizing our rights in all areas of the Land of Israel,” it said in a statement.

In the report the council said the companies’ activities “raised particular human rights concerns.”

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh on Wednesday threatened to take international legal action against the companies.

“We demand the companies immediately close their headquarters and branches inside illegal Israeli settlements because their presence contradicts international and U.N. resolutions,” said Shtayyeh in an online post.

“We will pursue companies listed in the report legally through international legal institutions and in courts in their countries for taking part in human rights violations in Palestine.”

Most of the companies on the list are Israeli, including banks and construction firms. But it also lists a number of international firms, including travel companies Airbnb, Expedia and TripAdvisor, tech giant Motorola and construction and infrastructure companies including France’s Egis Rail and British company JC Bamford Excavators.

Six of the companies listed are based in the U.S., four in the Netherlands, three in the U.K., three in France, and one each in Luxembourg and Thailand, The Times of Israel noted.

The complete UNHRC list of companies and their home countries follows:

1. Afikim Public Transportation Ltd., Israel
   2. Airbnb Inc., United States
   3. American Israeli Gas Corporation Ltd., Israel
   4. Amir Marketing and Investments in Agriculture Ltd., Israel
   5. Amos Hadar Properties and Investments Ltd., Israel
   6. Angel Bakeries, Israel
   7. Archivists Ltd., Israel
   8. Ariel Properties Group, Israel
   9. Ashtrom Industries Ltd., Israel
   10. Ashtrom Properties Ltd., Israel
   11. Avgol Industries 1953 Ltd., Israel
   12. Bank Hapoalim B.M., Israel
   13. Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M., Israel
   14. Bank of Jerusalem Ltd., Israel
   15. Beit Haarchiv Ltd., Israel
   16. Bezeq, the Israel Telecommunication Corp Ltd., Israel
   17. Booking.com B.V., Netherlands
   18. C Mer Industries Ltd., Israel
   19. Café Café Israel Ltd., Israel
   20. Caliber 3, Israel
   21. Cellcom Israel Ltd., Israel
   22. Cherriessa Ltd., Israel
   23. Chish Nofei Israel Ltd., Israel
   24. Citadis Israel Ltd., Israel
   25. Comasco Ltd., Israel
   26. Darban Investments Ltd., Israel
   27. Delek Group Ltd., Israel
   28. Delta Israel, Israel
   29. Dor Alon Energy in Israel 1988 Ltd., Israel
   30. Egis Rail, France
   31. Egged, Israel Transportation Cooperative Society Ltd., Israel
   32. Energix Renewable Energies Ltd., Israel
   33. EPR Systems Ltd., Israel
   34. Extal Ltd., Israel
   35. Expedia Group Inc., United States
   36. Field Produce Ltd., Israel
   37. Field Produce Marketing Ltd., Israel
   38. First International Bank of Israel Ltd., Israel
   39. Galshan Shvakim Ltd., Israel
   40. General Mills Israel Ltd., Israel
   41. Hadiklaim Israel Date Growers Cooperative Ltd., Israel
   42. Hot Mobile Ltd., Israel
   43. Hot Telecommunications Systems Ltd., Israel
   44. Industrial Buildings Corporation Ltd., Israel
   45. Israel Discount Bank Ltd., Israel
   46. Israel Railways Corporation Ltd., Israel
   47. Italek Ltd., Israel
   48. JC Bamford Excavators Ltd., United Kingdom
   49. Jerusalem Economy Ltd., Israel
   50. Kavim Public Transportation Ltd., Israel
   51. Lipski Installation and Sanitation Ltd., Israel
   52. Matrix IT Ltd., Israel
   53. Mayer Davidov Garages Ltd., Israel
   54. Mekorot Water Company Ltd., Israel
   55. Mercantile Discount Bank Ltd., Israel
   56. Merkavim Transportation Technologies Ltd., Israel
   57. Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd., Israel
   58. Modi’in Ezrachi Group Ltd., Israel
   59. Mordechai Aviv Taasiot Beniyah 1973 Ltd., Israel
   60. Motorola Solutions Israel Ltd., Israel
   61. Municipal Bank Ltd., Israel
   62. Naaman Group Ltd., Israel
   63. Nof Yam Security Ltd., Israel
   64. Ofertex Industries 1997 Ltd., Israel
   65. Opodo Ltd., United Kingdom
   66. Bank Otsar Ha-Hayal Ltd., Israel
   67. Partner Communications Company Ltd., Israel
   68. Paz Oil Company Ltd., Israel
   69. Pelegas Ltd., Israel
   70. Pelephone Communications Ltd., Israel
   71. Proffimat S.R. Ltd., Israel
   72. Rami Levy Chain Stores Hashikma Marketing 2006 Ltd., Israel
   73. Rami Levy Hashikma Marketing Communication Ltd., Israel
   74. Re/Max Israel, Israel
   75. Shalgal Food Ltd., Israel
   76. Shapir Engineering and Industry Ltd., Israel
   77. Shufersal Ltd., Israel
   78. Sonol Israel Ltd., Israel
   79. Superbus Ltd., Israel
   80. Supergum Industries 1969 Ltd., Israel
   81. Tahal Group International B.V., Netherlands
   82. TripAdvisor Inc., United States
   83. Twitoplast Ltd., Israel
   84. Unikowsky Maoz Ltd., Israel
   85. YES, Israel
   86. Zakai Agricultural Know-how and inputs Ltd., Israel
   87. ZF Development and Construction, Israel
   88. ZMH Hammermand Ltd., Israel
   89. Zorganika Ltd., Israel
   90. Zriha Hlavin Industries Ltd., Israel
   91. Alon Blue Square Israel Ltd., Israel
   92. Alstom S.A., France
   93. Altice Europe N.V., Netherlands
   94. Amnon Mesilot Ltd., Israel
   95. Ashtrom Group Ltd., Israel
   96. Booking Holdings Inc., United States
   97. Brand Industries Ltd., Israel
   98. Delta Galil Industries Ltd., Israel
   99. eDreams ODIGEO S.A., Luxembourg
   100. Egis S.A., France
   101. Electra Ltd., Israel
   102. Export Investment Company Ltd., Israel
   103. General Mills Inc., United States
   104. Hadar Group, Israel
   105. Hamat Group Ltd., Israel
   106. Indorama Ventures P.C.L., Thailand
   107. Kardan N.V., Netherlands
   108. Mayer’s Cars and Trucks Co. Ltd., Israel
   109. Motorola Solutions Inc., United States
   110. Natoon Group, Israel
   111. Villar International Ltd., Israel
   112. Greenkote P.L.C., United Kingdom