As U.N. Vote Looms, Israel To Launch Diplomatic Push Against Human Rights Body

Ahead of a vote in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on whether or not to officially recognize Monday’s U.N. report that alleges possible war crimes by both Israel and Hamas during last summer’s Gaza conflict, Israel is launching a diplomatic effort to eliminate the automatic Arab majority in the UNHRC, a situation Israeli officials say makes the UNHRC systematically biased against the Jewish state.

The UNHRC is expected to vote in favor of adopting the report due to a voting bloc within the organization that consistently sides with Arab nations. Israel will be launching a public relations campaign, largely through social media, to oppose the report and promote the message that the behavior of the Israel Defense Forces during the Gaza war was “according to the highest international standards.” In addition, pro-Israel groups are organizing a protest outside U.N. headquarters in New York City next Monday, when the report will be discussed by the UNHRC in Geneva prior to the vote.

“They (the UNHRC) are aware that they don’t have enough information for an indictment [against Israel]. What’s disturbing is that it (the report) puts Israel and Hamas on the same weighing scale. There’s no doubt that this harms Israel’s image,” Israeli Foreign Ministry officials said, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

Israel did not cooperate with the U.N.’s probe into the Gaza war, but if it had done so, the result would have been the same “and maybe even worse,” said a senior Israeli source.

“Their investigation does not cross the threshold into criminal investigation and therefore they did not discuss individuals. The entire report stands on chicken legs because they didn’t have access to the field,” the source added.

JNS.ORG

{Matzav.com}