U.S. May Leave U.N. Human Rights Council Over Anti-Israel Bias, Haley Warns
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley addresses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in Washington, DC, on March 27, 2017. Image by Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Nikki Haley, the American ambassador to the United Nations, said the U.S. is considering its membership in the U.N. Human Rights Council, citing among other things its bias against Israel.
In a speech Tuesday to the council in Geneva, Haley cited Israel as one of several factors leading the United States to reconsider its membership. Another is the membership of human rights abusers like Venezuela, Cuba, China, Burundi and Saudi Arabia.
“It’s hard to accept that this council has never considered a resolution on Venezuela and yet it adopted five biased resolutions in March against a single country – Israel,” Haley said. “It is essential that this council address its chronic anti-Israel bias if it is to have any credibility.”
Haley added: “The United States is looking very carefully at this council and our participation in it. We see some areas for significant strengthening.”
The George W. Bush administration also cited Israel bashing and the presence of human rights abusers when it pulled out of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, the predecessor of the current council. The Obama administration rejoined, in part to defend U.S. interests.
Haley is scheduled to visit Israel later this week.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
