Israel Withdraws from UN Human Rights Council Following US... "Welcomes Trump's Decision"

Israel announced on the 5th (local time) that it will withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), following the United States, according to Gideon Sa'ar, Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Minister Sa'ar wrote on the social networking service X (formerly Twitter), "Israel welcomes President Donald Trump's decision not to participate in the UNHRC," adding, "Israel will also join the United States in boycotting the UNHRC."

Donald Trump, President of the United States, signing an executive order. Photo by UPI Yonhap News

Minister Sa'ar stated, "The UNHRC has protected human rights violators from investigations and obsessively demonized Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East," and claimed, "Instead of promoting human rights, it has attacked democratic countries and spread anti-Semitism."

He emphasized, "The discrimination against us is clear," noting, "There have been over 100 resolutions condemning Israel at the UNHRC, which accounts for more than 20% of all resolutions passed by the UNHRC, exceeding the combined total for Iran, Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela." He added, "Israel will no longer tolerate such discrimination."

President Trump signed an executive order the previous day at the White House, ahead of a summit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, directing withdrawal from the UNHRC and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Israel had previously designated UNRWA as a terrorist organization and has banned UNRWA activities in Israel and East Jerusalem since last month. Israel believes that UNRWA staff are involved in terrorist activities by the Palestinian armed group Hamas.