Israel Follows US Steps To Withdraw From UN Human Rights Council

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar/PHOTO via Instagram @gideonsaar

JAKARTA - Israel has informed the United Nations Human Rights Council (UN) that it will join the United States to withdraw its participation.

"The decision was taken given the ongoing institutional bias and never stops with Israel on the Human Rights Council, which has been going on since its formation in 2006," Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a letter to UNHRC President Jorg Lauber he posted on social media platform X. , as reported by Reuters, Thursday, February 6.

Previously, President Donald Trump was rumored to be discontinuing the United States' relations with the UN Human Rights Council (HAM) and continuing to stop funding for the UN aid agency for Palestine, UNRWA), a White House official said.

The move coincided with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's long-standing visit to Washington criticizing UNRWA, accusing the agency of an anti-Israeli incitement and its staff of being "involved in terrorist activities against Israel," Reuters said on Tuesday, February 4.

The United Nations and UNRWA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, the working group of the Human Rights Council will review US human rights records in August, a process experienced by all countries every few years.

While the council does not have legally binding force, its debate has political weight and criticism can increase global pressure on governments to change courses.

Separately, Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, on Monday praised the steps President Trump is expected to take, accusing the Human Rights Council of "aggressively promoting extreme anti-Semitism."

"At the same time, UNRWA has long lost its status as an independent humanitarian organization, and has turned into a terrorist authority controlled by Hamas under the guise of a humanitarian agency," he said.