BICOM

US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday sharply criticised the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) for obsessive allegations against Israel and pledged that Washington will oppose any efforts to isolate or delegitimise Israel.

Speaking in Geneva at the UNHCR, Kerry commented, “It must be said that the UNHRC’s obsession with Israel actually risks undermining the credibility of the entire organization. It has the potential to limit the good that we have to do.”

The volume of UNHCR debates and resolutions aimed at Israel is hugely disproportionate in comparison to any other state. Israel is the only country to which the council has assigned a permanent investigator and the UNHRC’s charter stipulates that a separate discussion on Israel’s human rights record take place at its annual meetings. During a visit to Israel in 2013, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged that Israel “suffered from bias — and sometimes even discrimination” at the UN.

Kerry yesterday pledged a UN-wide defence of Israel, saying, “We will oppose any effort by any group or participant in the UN system to arbitrarily and regularly delegitimise or isolate Israel, not just at the UN Human Rights Council, but wherever it occurs.” Echoing Kerry’s comments, US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power yesterday told the annual gathering of pro-Israel group AIPAC in Washington that, “These attacks on Israel’s legitimacy [at the UN] are biased, they are ugly, and the United States of America will not rest until they stop.” Kerry and Power’s supportive comments come with the US-Israel relationship under scrutiny over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington including his address to Congress later today.

Meanwhile, senior Palestinian official Mohammed Shtayyeh indicated yesterday that the Palestinian Authority will file an initial war crimes case against Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in April. The Palestinians applied successfully for ICC membership last year. Both Israeli and American leaders have said that such a move would be a serious blow to peace efforts.