Haley: UN must stop singling out Israel
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley defended Israel just a week prior to her visit, bashing the UN’s Human Rights Council for its biased approach and harsh and unfair judgment of the Jewish state.
“The council must end its practice of wrongly singling out Israel for criticism,” the US envoy wrote in an opinion piece that appeared Friday on The Washington Post website. “When the council passes more than 70 resolutions against Israel, a country with a strong human rights record, and just seven resolutions against Iran, a country with an abysmal human rights record, you know something is seriously wrong.”
Haley made the statement as part of a description of the grievances she said she would like to air with the council, which she is expected to address in Geneva on June 6 before paying an official visit to Israel.
“Next week, I will travel to Geneva to address the Human Rights Council about the United States’ concerns. I will outline changes that must be made,” she said, before describing several issues she said the council overlooks or does not tackle properly.
She pointed to the human rights crises in Cuba, Venezuela and Ukraine. “All too often... the victims of the world’s most egregious human rights violations are ignored by the very organization that is supposed to protect them.”
Haley said the US was seriously considering pulling out from the council, adding that a Senate subcommittee gathered to discuss the issue.
“The question was whether the Human Rights Council actually supports human rights or is merely a showcase for dictatorships that use their membership to whitewash brutality,” she said.
On several occasions, Haley has come out in favor of the country following UN actions against Israel.
In May, Haley told CBS that the Western Wall was part of Israel and that she thought the US Embassy should be in Jerusalem, a mere few weeks after UNESCO passed a resolution that disavowed Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem.
“I am not really sure what happened with that issue. I know that they are trying to fix that and get that taken care of; we have always thought the Western Wall was part of Israel,” she said.
In April, when Haley presided over the council she said it should focus its Middle East debate on other topics instead of centering on “Israel-bashing.”
Haley is expected to be in Israel from June 7-9. She is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin. She will also pay visits to Jerusalem’s Old City and to Yad Vashem. She is also slated to hold talks with Palestinian Authority officials.