UN expected to vote for funding UNHRC blacklist of companies with ties to Israel
UN Ambassador Danny Danon vowed to marshal a considerable amount of resources to fight the effort in the international body.
By DANIELLE ZIRIUpdated: DECEMBER 10, 2016 05:56EU Commission approves Israeli 'settlement' product guidelines (Illustrative picture)(photo credit: REUTERS,JPOST STAFF)
NEW YORK - The United Nations Fifth Committee, which oversees the international body’s budget and administration, is expected to vote next week to fund a blacklist of Israeli and international companies operating in Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the West Bank.The blacklist, which is to be updated annually, was initiated back in March when the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva passed a resolution in order to put it together. The resolution, which was then supported by 32 countries with 15 abstained and no oppositions, was designed to help stop settlement activity.The Israeli mission to the UN said the list is expected to be utilized by BDS activists for anti-Israel activities.Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said the Israeli Mission will publicly oppose the list and is committed to bringing together international partners and pro-Israel organizations to do so as well in the form of a task-force. The groups will propose new ideas to combat the initiative. "We will not be silent in light of this shameful initiative," Danon said. "The UN's intent to mark Jewish businesses and international companies with ties to Israel so that they can be boycotted reminds us of dark times in history.”“The Human Rights Council is already known as an antisemitic and anti-Israel entity, but it is unacceptable for the UN itself to support this despicable decision," the Ambassador continued.Israeli Envoy to UNESCO throws UN Jerusalem Temple Mount resolution into the trashThe UN had already agitated the Israeli mission earlier in the year after the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO] passed a resolution omitting any Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and Western Wall in Jerusalem.Following a 24-6 vote taken in October by UNESCO’s 58-member Executive Board, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the decision, saying "The theater of the absurd continues at the UN.”Just over a month later, the UN General Assembly overwhelming voted to support a similar resolution that used solely Muslim language to describe the Temple Mount.Out of the United Nation’s 193 member states, 147 voted in favor, seven voted against and eight abstained.
The Jerusalem resolution, voted on November 30, was one of six resolutions condemning Israel and supporting the Palestinians that the General Assembly approved as part of its special annual session for the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this article.