B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
B’nai B’rith International strongly deplores the five unjust anti-Israel resolutions the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed today. One resolution, which seeks to call in to question the legitimacy of sales of military equipment to Israel, provides new evidence that the Council is entirely indifferent to the rights and well-being of those on one side of the conflict — the citizens of the State of Israel defending their right to life, the most basic human right of all. This resolution passed with 27 votes in favor, four against and 15 countries abstaining. We condemn Belgium and Slovenia as the only European Union members of the Council choosing to vote in favor of this outrageous resolution.
We commend the United States and Australia for taking a principled stand by voting against all five resolutions.
Today’s vote again shows that the Council has run amok. Only the Security Council can level binding sanctions or an arms embargo, yet when it comes to Israel, the UNHRC has felt empowered over the last few years to create a blacklist of Israeli and multinational companies operating in Palestinian-claimed territory and now threatens states and companies that sell arms that Israel uses to defend itself against hostile regimes and terrorist groups. The Council is clearly in urgent need of reform.
B’nai B’rith International last week wrapped up its annual mission to the Human Rights Council, where we held high-level meetings with numerous countries and made an intervention at the Council.
