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U.S. leaves UN Human Rights Council over Israel bias

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U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks at a U.N. Security Council emergency session on the demonstrations at the Israel-Gaza conflict, at U.N. headquarters in New York City, May 30, 2018. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks at a U.N. Security Council emergency session on the demonstrations at the Israel-Gaza conflict, at U.N. headquarters in New York City, May 30, 2018. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks at a UN Security Council emergency session on the demonstrations at the Israel-Gaza conflict, at UN headquarters in New York City, May 30, 2018. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

(JTA) – The Trump administration has withdrawn the United States from the UN Human Rights Council because of its bias against Israel.

Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, jointly announced the pullout on Tuesday evening.

“The Human Rights Council is an exercise in shameless hypocrisy,” Pompeo told the media at the State Department.

Haley said the decision came after her “good faith” effort to reform the body was obstructed by others. [Read more…]

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UN General Assembly condemns Israel for Gaza violence; Canada among 35 countries which abstains

People running from tear gas at the Gaza border fence with Israel, May 15, 2018. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
People running from tear gas at the Gaza border fence with Israel, May 15, 2018. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

People running from tear gas at the Gaza border fence with Israel, May 15, 2018. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

(JTA) – The United Nations (UN) General Assembly at an emergency meeting on the Gaza Strip condemned Israel for an “excessive use of force” and rejected U.S. bids to amend the resolution to also condemn Hamas.

The resolution, backed by Arab countries, also calls for “protection of the Palestinian civilian population” in Gaza. It is similar to one that was introduced at the UN Security Council earlier this month that was vetoed by the United States. [Read more…]

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Nikki Haley says Trump would stick to nuclear deal if partners helped crack down on missile violations

Nikki Haley speaking to reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York, March 27, 2017. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley speaking to reporters at UN headquarters in New York, March 27, 2017. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – If partner countries helped crack down on Iranian missile violations, it could persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to sustain the Iran nuclear deal, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said.

Nikki Haley made her remarks on Monday after leading a White House meeting of the 15-member UN Security Council and Trump. [Read more…]

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Israel backs UN resolution on name change for Rwanda genocide

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Rwandan President Paul Kagame on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 24, 2018. (Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Rwandan President Paul Kagame on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 24, 2018. (Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Rwandan President Paul Kagame on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 24, 2018. (Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO)

(JTA) – Israel supported a UN resolution changing the name of the international remembrance day for the 1994 Rwanda genocide opposed by the United States and the European Union.

The April 7 remembrance day will focus solely on the murder of some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis by members of the Hutu-majority government following the amendment’s approval on Friday in the General Assembly by consensus. It will be known now as the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda. [Read more…]

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Obama used to joke with staff that he’s ‘basically a liberal Jew’

Former U.S. president Barack Obama at Temple Emanu-El in New York City, Jan. 24, 2018. (Gili Getz/Facebook)
Former U.S. president Barack Obama at Temple Emanu-El in New York City, Jan. 24, 2018. (Gili Getz/Facebook)

Former U.S. president Barack Obama at Temple Emanu-El in New York City, Jan. 24, 2018. (Gili Getz/Facebook)

(JTA) – Barack Obama said his administration refrained from vetoing a 2016 United Nations Security Council resolution critical of Israeli settlements because the pace of their construction “skyrocketed.”

The former U.S. president, speaking Wednesday at New York’s Temple Emanu-El, also said that he and his staff would often joke that he was “basically a liberal Jew,” according to the British Daily Mail. [Read more…]

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U.S. grants visa for Israeli singer to perform at UN for International Holocaust Remembrance Day

(JTA) – Reversing its initial decline to grant a visa for the Israeli singer Amir Benayoun, the United States embassy in Israel gave him permission to enter in to time to perform at the United Nations annual ceremony for International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The U.S. embassy last week told Ynet that Benayoun was not able to convince the U.S. consul that he “has a strong connection to his country, which ensures his return to Israel after a short visit to the US.” But on Thursday reversed its decision and gave him the stamp, Ynet reported. [Read more…]

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Amnesty International UK ‘targeting Jewish community,’ British Jewish group alleges

(JTA) – The main umbrella group of British Jews accused its local branch of Amnesty International of targeting the community following the abrupt cancellation of a joint event.

The accusation by the Jewish Leadership Council – a charity founded 15 years ago comprising 32 groups with different politics, including the Board of Governors of British Jews, the Jewish World Relief aid organization and several synagogues – came Monday following the cancellation of an event concerning Israel and the United Nations. [Read more…]

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Trump administration freezes half of U.S. funding of UN’s Palestinian relief agency

WASHINGTON (JTA) – The Trump administration froze more than half of U.S. funding for the UN organization assisting Palestinian refugees and their descendants, citing what it depicted as the oversize U.S. role in the funding.

The State Department said Tuesday that it had put a hold on $65 million US of the $125 million now due to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which distributes its assistance in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, as well as to refugee camps in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. [Read more…]

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U.S. denies visa for Israeli singer to perform at UN for Holocaust Remembrance Day

JERUSALEM (JTA) – The United States embassy in Israel has declined a visa request by Israeli singer Amir Benayoun, who is scheduled to perform a song he wrote at the United Nations annual ceremony for International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Benayoun is scheduled to be joined on stage at the U.N. in New York by singers David D’Or and Miri Mesika, who already have received their visas, and who will help him perform the song in Hebrew, English, and Arabic in a performance scheduled for International Holocaust Remembrance Day.  The annual ceremony commemorates the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27. [Read more…]

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Report details intense efforts by Trump transition to derail UN anti-Israel resolution

Michael Flynn at the U.S. Capitol during U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony, Jan. 20, 2017. (Saul Loeb/Pool/Getty Images)
Michael Flynn at the U.S. Capitol during U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony, Jan. 20, 2017. (Saul Loeb/Pool/Getty Images)

Michael Flynn at the U.S. Capitol during U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony, Jan. 20, 2017. (Saul Loeb/Pool/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Efforts by the Trump transition team to kill a 2016 UN Security Council resolution slamming Israel’s settlement policies were more widespread than was previously known, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The report Friday said the effort encompassed a number of transition officials beyond Michael Flynn, the national security adviser-designate who was previously known to have made the effort. [Read more…]

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