An organization’s spokesman says the state of Israeli observers means it cannot formally withdraw from the body.
Israel says it has withdrawn from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), following in the footsteps of the US, which announced its decision earlier this week.
In response to a Thursday announcement by Israeli Foreign Minister, UNHRC spokesman Pascal Sim said Israel cannot withdraw from the council because it has the status of an observer within the rights agency. .
The Geneva-based Council consists of 47 UN member states, elected by other UN members and can serve a four-year term on a revolving basis. The United States is not currently an elected member of the Council.
On Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saa accused the UNHRC of anti-Semitism, saying his country “will join the United States and will not join the UNHRC.”
Saar added that the decision was “reached in light of the ongoing, relentless institutional bias against Israel that has been sustained since its inception in 2006.”
Previously, Israel’s UN ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, condemned “moral failure.”
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Occupy Palestinian Territories, says Israel’s decision is “very serious” and “shows hubr and what they will achieve [Israel] I did it.”
“They argue that they are self-righteous that there is nothing to be held responsible for, and they are demonstrating that to the entire international community,” she added.
UNHRC conducts regular reviews of the human rights records of UN member states and is also responsible for appointing human rights experts as independent special rapporteurs of the United Nations.
Israel participated in a regular review that UN members must submit to the UNHRC. However, for several years, he has boycotted debates over the “human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.”
Israel’s decision on Thursday is the latest in a series of conflicts with the United Nations.
In October, Israel banned the United Nations Relief and Labor Bureau for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) that sparked international condemnation.
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