UN Voting on Motion to ‘Blacklist’ Companies with Ties to Israel

Israeli Ambassador Danon said the UN’s latest move against Israel “reminds us of dark times in history.”

The United Nations (UN) is set to vote next week on a motion to fund a “blacklist” of Israeli and international companies operating in Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, Judea and Samaria – areas several countries deem “occupied” by Israel.

The vote, scheduled to take place in the Fifth Committee, which oversees the UN’s budget and administration, will authorize funding for the UN’s Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to compile the list.

When announcing the intention to create the list last March, the UNHRC explained that they expected to update it annually.

The plan to create the list, which is expected to be used by the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement and other anti-Israel organizations, caused an international uproar when it was announced last spring.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon announced that the Israeli Mission will publicly oppose the list and that he created a task force to propose new ideas to combat the initiative.

Danon stated his commitment to bring together international partners and pro-Israel organizations to oppose the list. “We will not be silent in light of this shameful initiative,” he stated.  “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.”

He also pointed out that although the UNHRC is already known as an “anti-Semitic and anti-Israel entity, it is unacceptable for the UN itself to support this despicable decision.”

The UNHRC is infamously biased against Israel, with nearly half of its resolutions focused solely on Israel while completely ignoring war, strife and atrocities committed around the globe.

Israeli leaders and officials have cited the UNHRC for its “obsessive hostility” toward Israel and its “one-sided mandate.”

Addressing the UNHRC in October, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that it must cease with its “excessive and biased focus on Israel,” one of the main challenges the Council still faces.

“No one in this room can deny that there is an unbalanced focus on one democratic country,” Kerry said. “It must be said that the HRC’s obsession with Israel risks undermining the credibility of the entire organization,” Kerry stated in March 2016.

By: Max Gelber, United with Israel