Fourteen new countries were elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council, including three that do not recognize the State of Israel. Those three are Algeria, Bangladesh and the Maldives.
The other 11 nations elected to the 47-member body are Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Georgia, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Romania, South Africa, Sudan and Vietnam.
None of the countries elected have an overwhelmingly positive record with regard to supporting Israel at the UN, a body that has passed more resolutions against the Jewish state than against any other country.South Africa, which has relations with Israel, has a particularly negative record.
The vote for new UNHRC members is held annually in a secret ballot by the 193-member General Assembly in New York, with a third of the council’s membership rotating every year.
Countries can maintain their seat for an additional consecutive term, but must then step down before running again. Both Sudan and Germany retained their seats in this election.
Among the countries that did not receive a seat were Afghanistan and Venezuela.
UN Watch raises concerns
Prior to the vote, the non-governmental group UN Watch had raised concerns about Algeria, Sudan and Vietnam. It noted that these countries were deemed “unqualified” due to their own human rights records as well as their voting records on UN resolutions concerning human rights.
At the end of December 2022, the following countries will end their terms on the UNHRC: Armenia, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Libya, Marshall Islands, Namibia, Netherlands, Poland, the Republic of Korea and Venezuela.
Out of that list, only the Marshall Islands had a positive voting record on Israel. The United States, which is a strong supporter of Israel, has a seat on the council through the end of 2024.