The Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, issued a statement on Thursday criticizing the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling it an “anti-Israel circus”. The statement followed the passage of a measure calling for a listing of companies invested in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.These settlements are considered illegal under international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits occupying powers from transferring civilians into territory occupied by the military.
The Israeli Prime Minister criticized the Council’s measure for “singling out Israel”, and claimed that the UN body failed to issue similar condemnations against human rights abuses in Iran, Syria and North Korea.
But the UN Human Rights Council has in fact issued multiple condemnations against all three of those countries, as well as dozens of others, in the ten years since its creation, for a litany of human rights violations.
The Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, accused the Council of acting “obsessively” and compared it to Europe in the lead-up to the Holocaust.
Danon said the measure was similar to “a dark period in Europe when Jewish businesses were singled out. Whoever supported today’s decision should be ashamed.”
Netanyahu called on nations around the world to disregard the measure by the UN Council.
The measure passed by the Council on Thursday called for the creation of a list of businesses based in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
During its session on Thursday, the UN Human Rights Council also appointed a replacement for special rapporteur Makarim Wibisono, who resigned in January saying that Israeli officials refused to cooperate with him.
