US slams UN list on colony-linked firms

Haley accused of bullying countries in the UN which have sought to criticise illegal Israeli policies

US Ambassador Nikki Haley on Wednesday slammed a UN report on 206 companies with ties to Israeli colonies as “a waste of time and resources” that showed an “anti-Israeli obsession”.

The office of the UN high commissioner for human rights released the report that did not name the companies, but could pave the way to a ‘blacklist’ of businesses that Israeli officials fear would be targeted for an international boycott. “This whole issue is outside the bounds of the High Commissioner for Human Rights office’s mandate and is a waste of time and resources,” Haley said in a statement.

The report was in response to a resolution adopted in 2016 by the UN Human Rights Council that called for the creation of database of all companies doing business with the Israeli colonies, which the United Nations considers illegal under international law.

“While we note that they wisely refrained from listing individual companies, the fact that the report was issued at all is yet another reminder of the Council’s anti-Israel obsession,” said Haley.

“The United States will continue to aggressively push back against the antiIsrael bias, and advance badly needed reforms of the Council,” she added.

US President Donald Trump’s administration is considered to be one the most pro-Israeli in US history.

Haley has been accused of bullying countries in the UN which have sought to criticise illegal Israeli policies.

Of the 206 companies under review, 143 are based in Israel or in the colonies, 22 in the United States, seven in Germany, five in the Netherlands and four in France.

The report had been due to be released last year but was repeatedly delayed.

Israeli colonies are illegal under international law.