After US, Israel announces departure from ‘anti-semitic’ UN Human Rights Council

“The UNHRC has traditionally protected human rights abusers by allowing them to hide from scrutiny, and instead obsessively demonizes the one democracy in the Middle East – Israel,” he wrote in the post on X.

By: Express Web Desk

Updated: February 6, 2025 07:12 PM IST

3 min read

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Israelis wave flags as they participate in the annual Jerusalem Day march, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem. (REUTERS)

A day after President Donald Trump announced the United States’ withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Israel declared it would follow suit. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced the decision on Wednesday, stating, “Israel joins the United States and will not participate in the UNHRC.”

Sa’ar accused the UNHRC of protecting human rights violators while unfairly targeting Israel. “The UNHRC has traditionally protected human rights abusers by allowing them to hide from scrutiny, and instead obsessively demonizes the one democracy in the Middle East – Israel,” he wrote in the post on X.

He further claimed that Israel had been subjected to over 100 condemnatory resolutions under the UNHRC, making up more than 20 per cent of all resolutions passed by the body. “Israel will not accept this discrimination any longer!” he added.

Later, in another post on X, he announced that Israel has informed the United Nations Human Rights Council that it will follow the United States in withdrawing its participation.

“The decision was reached in light of the ongoing and unrelenting institutional bias against Israel in the Human Rights Council, which has been persistent since its inception in 2006,” Sa’ar said in a letter to UNHRC President Jorg Lauber which he posted on X.

The announcement coincided with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the US, where he attended a press conference with President Trump in Washington.

Trump’s UNHRC and UNRWA Exit

On Tuesday, Trump declared that the US was withdrawing from both the UNHRC and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which he accused of funding Hamas.

“I’m also pleased to announce that this afternoon the United States withdrew from the anti-Semitic UN Human Rights Council and ended all of the support for the UN Relief and Works Agency, which funneled money to Hamas and which was very disloyal to humanity,” Trump stated.

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He also announced the reinstatement of his “maximum pressure” policy on Iran, vowing to impose strict sanctions to cut Iranian oil exports to zero and weaken Tehran’s ability to fund terrorism.

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