Amb. Danon blasts official who suggested Israel be suspended from U.N.
“The international community has not simply the ability, but also the responsibility and obligation to bring [settlements] to an end.
By YVETTE J. DEANEUpdated: AUGUST 8, 2018 12:27US AMBASSADOR to the UN Nikki Haley speaks with Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon before a Security Council vote on an Arab-backed resolution for protection of Palestinian civilians, at the UN headquarters on Friday.(photo credit: SHANNON STAPLETON/ REUTERS)
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon harshly criticized a suggestion by UN official Michael Lynk that Israel be suspended from the world body over what the United Nations characterizes as violations of international law, Fox News reported Wednesday.Lynk's comments is “another reason why the [Human Rights Council] lost its credibility,” Danon said.“Mahmoud Abbas knows that actions such as this do nothing to encourage peace," Danon said in an interview on Fox News. "In fact, it actively works against it, and encourages incitement and a culture of hate."“The international community has not simply the ability, but also the responsibility and obligation to bring [settlements] to an end,” Lynk, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories for the UN, told a July session of the Human Rights Council, adding that there are “a number of tools” the international community can use to change Israeli actions.“It may mean reviewing or suspending Israel’s privileges as a state member in the United Nations,” Lynk said. “It may mean that countries in the world, particularly those with significant trading or political relationships with Israel, would review their relationships with Israel in the military, political, diplomatic and economic investment spheres. It may mean that Israel would face some forms of restrictions in its abilities to wind up trading.”The United States withdrew from the Human Rights Council in June, citing what it characterized as the body's biased treatment of Israel and its failure to address serious abuses throughout the world.Anne Herzberg, an expert on the United Nations with the organization NGO Monitor, also challenged Lynk and said that he was “unqualified for his role.”“It is completely inappropriate for a UN official charged with independently assessing human rights to behave in such a partisan manner, and speaks to the inappropriate close partnerships with and reliance on radical anti-Israel groups,” she said. “As long as he continues in his position, Lynk compromises the legitimacy of the entire UN.”NGO Monitor claimed that Lynk has partnerships with organizations that have alleged ties to terror groups and those promoting the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS), Fox Newsreported.In response, Lynk emphasized "the importance of ensuring that nations obey international law and that effective measures should be available to the international community to curb unlawful behavior by UN member states.”
