BICOM

Israel will send representatives to this week’s United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) periodic review of Israel, resuming cooperation with the body following an eighteen month hiatus.

Israel withdrew cooperation with the UNHRC, based in Geneva, in March 2012 in protest at the council’s overwhelming focus on Israel including the volume of debates and resolutions 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 August, United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged that Israel “suffered from bias — and sometimes even discrimination” at the UN.

However, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday decided to re-establish ties with the UNHRC and participate in Tuesday’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva. The UPR is a mechanism by which the council assesses each country’s human rights record. Israel had initially decided not to appear at the hearing in January. Had Israel decided not to attend, it would have become the first country to take such action. Haaretz reports that Israel’s government had come under pressure from Western allies, in particular Germany, to attend the proceedings for fear that non-attendance would undermine the entire UPR process.

According to Israel Radio news, the Israeli delegation will travel to Geneva after Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin negotiated a commitment to a November vote on Israel’s membership of the Western Europe and Others group at the UNHRC. Israel is currently the only country which is not a member of any regional body at the council. Agreement was also reportedly reached to limit for the time being special discussions on Israel which are mandated at UNHCR meetings.