In a shocking development, the Trump administration has refused to support Israel at the United Nations on a resolution concerning the U.N. Human Rights Council. The Council is a notorious anti-Israel body and plays a leading role in the U.N.'s global proliferation of antisemitism. U.S. U.N. Ambassador Haley has repeatedly claimed that she has Israel's back at the UN and has made a name for herself with brash announcements that she's the "new sheriff in town."
But on November 16, 2017 the U.N. General Assembly's Third Committee (a committee "of the whole" composed of all 193 U.N. member states) took up a resolution to rubber-stamp the annual report of the Human Rights Council. Among other things, the report contained all the anti-Israel resolutions and decisions adopted by the Council. In U.N.-eze, the resolution said the General Assembly "takes note" of the report, without any criticism.
The resolution was adopted 117 in favor, 2 against, and 60 abstentions. Israel and Belarus voted against. The United States merely abstained.
The U.S. move is particularly surprising in view of the history of this resolution. The Bush administration voted with Israel and against a similar resolution in 2008 and 2009, while the Obama administration refused to join Israel in voting against the resolution in its last three years (in 2014, 2015 and 2016) and abstained. The Trump administration decision means that it is following in the footsteps of Democrats instead of the GOP, on precisely the issue of abandoning Israel at the UN that the President vociferously criticized during the election.
The Israeli delegate explained to the General Assembly why they were voting against:
"Although the Council is mandated to be guided by the principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity, and non-selectivity, and to work in a constructive, unbiased, transparent and non-politicized manner, unfortunately when it comes to Israel all these important principles suddenly disappear. A special agenda item; seven special sessions; more than 70 resolutions, much more than a third from all the geographical resolutions; a Special Rapporteur with a biased and an infinite mandate as well as endless numbers of reports all targeting Israel, reflect the Council's attitude towards my country. One may think that there are hardly any other challenges in the world. But this is not the case, unfortunately. As the High Commissioner for Human Rights had said, "Our world today is suffering from so many atrocities, terrible humanitarian crises, increased xenophobia, racism, and prejudice, greater than any we have experienced since the end of World War II." And yet, instead of focusing on oppressing human rights situations in our globe, instead of devoting its time, personnel and limited resources in direction/proportion to the severity of the crisis, when it comes to Israel the Council chooses once again to trample in the political swamp and to neglect so many people around the world who need urgent assistance. It is crucial that the Human Rights Council will finally focus on its mandate to protect human rights. Mr. Chair, we have heard complaints that the Human Rights Council is in a very difficult situation to manage its workload. Some voices have risen calling for a reform of the Human Rights Council to improve its functioning and to avoid the dark path that its predecessor, the Commission, found itself immersed in. In this sense, a first step should be a revision of the resources allocated to deal with the biased item 7, which will definitely allow the Human Rights Council to better address the real and urgent concerns that the international community should be focused on. That is why Israel will vote against the adoption of the Human Rights Council's report."
By comparison, the Trump administration's U.N. delegate made this feeble excuse to the General Assembly for throwing Israel to the UN wolves:
"The United States offers this statement as an explanation of vote. The United States continues to view the resolution on the report of the Human Rights Council as procedurally unnecessary. In previous years, including last year, some delegations have used it as an attempt to undermine certain decisions of the Human Rights Council. More broadly, the United States strongly objects to the Human Right Council's disproportionate focus on Israel, and has concerns regarding certain other resolutions adopted over the past year. We also believe the continued membership of some states that have especially poor human rights records undercuts the credibility of the Council. On a positive note, we wish to highlight the important actions taken by the Council, including through renewing mandates on the human rights situations in Iran, the DPRK, Syria, and the fact-finding mission on Myanmar. The Human Rights Council is in need of serious reform, both in the realm of efficiency reforms in Geneva and of institutional reforms here in New York. We urge all Member States to join efforts that will reform the Council and restore its legitimacy as the world's defender of human rights. For these reasons, the United States has abstained on this resolution."
In short, the Trump administration has adopted the Obama view of UN-driven anti-Israel and antisemitic activities: the inequality of Jews is a price worth paying to advance other goals. As if human rights principles can be built on a foundation of antisemitism. No one at the U.N, - states or staff - believe that the Human Rights Council will undergo "serious reform," particularly on the anti-Israel front. The "reform" charade is a well-worn UN path for killing time - and Israelis, demonized as fair game in the name of human rights.