Israel slams probe by U.N. council
Body votes to launch ongoing investigation
GENEVA — Israel blasted a Thursday resolution by the U.N. Human Rights Council to launch an ongoing, intensified investigation of the country’s treatment of Palestinians following the country’s 11-day war against Hamas terrorists, alleging the Middle East democracy might have committed war crimes during the conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the decision, saying the United Nations has once again shirked its duties to serve as an impartial forum.
“Today’s shameful decision is yet another example of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s blatant anti-israel obsession. Once again, an immoral automatic majority at the council whitewashes a genocidal terrorist organization that deliberately targets Israeli civilians while turning Gaza’s civilians into human shields,” Netanyahu said. “This while depicting as the ‘guilty party’ a democracy acting legitimately to protect its citizens from thousands of indiscriminate rocket attacks.
This travesty makes a mockery of international law and encourages terrorists worldwide.”
The 24-9 vote, with 14 abstentions, capped a special Human Rights Council session arranged by Organization of Islamic Cooperation countries, which have strongly supported Palestinians in their struggles with Israel.
The resolution calls for the creation of a permanent “Commission of Inquiry” — the most potent tool at the council’s disposal — to monitor and report on rights violations in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. It would be the first such COI with an “ongoing” mandate.
The resolution also calls on states to refrain from “transferring arms” — the recipients were not specified — when they assess “a clear risk” that such weapons might be used to commit serious violations of human rights or humanitarian law.
Although Iran is known to supply Hamas with rockets and weaponry — and Hamas leadership openly thanked Iran for providing them with military support and financial backing during the recent conflict — the U.N. resolution appeared aimed at countries that ship weapons to Israel. The United States has finalized a $735 million weapons sale to Israel and helps the country maintain its Iron Dome defense system against Hamas rocket attacks.
After the vote, the U.S. mission in Geneva said the United States “deeply regrets” the move to create an “open-ended” Commission of Inquiry. It said some unspecified member states of the council “have chosen to engage in a distraction that adds nothing to ongoing diplomatic and humanitarian efforts” in the region. The United States is not a member of the council.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the country would not cooperate with the probe, deeming it a bid to “whitewash crimes committed by the terror organization Hamas.”