WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is strictly opposing a UN “blacklist” of entities conducting business in Israel’s settlements, with its ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, reportedly threatening US aid to the body should it publish such a list.
A report in Israel’s Channel 2 claims that Haley, in recent conversation, warned the UN Human Rights Council that publication of a blacklist would “harm” its funding. The television outlet did not specify its sourcing for this claim, to whom Haley said it or when the warning was issued, and The Jerusalem Post could not independently verify the report.
But US diplomatic officials tell the Post that the administration is indeed critical of the proposed blacklist, which would call out international companies for conducting business in the West Bank, the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, which Israel has annexed but which UN bodies consider illegally occupied.
Haley has condemned the proposal on record as recently as June 6, in remarks to the international body in Geneva.
“The council’s effort to create a database designed to shame companies for doing business in Israeli controlled areas is just the latest in this long line of shameful actions,” Haley said. “Blacklisting companies without even looking at their employment practices or their contributions to local empowerment, but rather based entirely on their location in areas of conflict is contrary to the laws of international trade and to any reasonable definition of human rights.”
“It is an attempt to provide an international stamp of approval to the anti-Semitic BDS movement,” she continued. “It must be rejected.”
On that same day in June, US officials warned that President Donald Trump may pull out of the human rights council completely, based on its “chronic anti-Israel bias.”
Ever since, Haley has campaigned on a series of issues aligned with Israel’s interests at the UN, highlighting Hezbollah’s “destabilizing” role in Lebanon and Syria, Iran’s potential non-compliance of a nuclear deal brokered by world powers, and international recognition of a growing scourge of antisemitism tied in with anti-Zionist rhetoric.
She has lambasted the UN Security Council for its focus on Israel, and UNESCO for its political listings of sites within Israel and the Palestinian territories.
On Thursday, Haley also issued a statement on Hamas’ “stunning admission” from earlier in the week that it is partnered with the government in Iran, jointly fighting Israel.
“Once again, Iran is showing its true colors,” Haley said. “Iran must decide whether it wants to be a member of the community of nations that can be expected to take its international obligations seriously or whether it wants to be the leader of a jihadist terrorist movement. It cannot be both.”
Article source: http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/US-pledges-140-million-to-Lebanon-in-Syrian-refugee-aid-500792
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