In his meeting with US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked her for all her help, “standing up for Israel and standing up for the truth, which is standing up for America.”
“Actually, I think it’s standing up for the UN as it was originally conceived,” the PM added. “People appreciate truth. We have an ancient Hebrew saying that when somebody tells a truth, you can feel it. So people feel it, they not only understand it, they feel it. And we feel it.”
“We’re glad to see the fruits of your efforts – uncommon common sense,” Netanyahu told his guest, who on Tuesday warned the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to lay off Israel or the US would pull out of it. “And it’s the way people react across a very wide spectrum. President Trump and you I think have changed the discourse, have drawn new standards, and everybody’s taking up, and that’s great. I think it makes a world of difference, both for Israel and the US. Again, I felt that the UN would collapse, you know, that whole scaffolding of lies would just collapse. I think you’ve put in that simple word, truth.”
The US Envoy agreed with the PM’s observation, noting, “You know, that’s all I’ve done, is tell the truth, and it’s kind of overwhelming at the reaction. It was a habit. It was a habit. It was something that we’re so used to doing. And if there’s anything I have no patience for is bullies, and the UN was being such a bully to Israel, because they could.”
“We’re starting to see a turn in New York,” Haley added. “I think they know they can’t keep responding in the way they’ve been responding. They sense that the tone has changed. We were talking with some Ambassadors in Geneva who are all on the Human Rights Council, and we talked to them about Agenda Item Seven, some of them, they were embarrassed by it. You know, they acknowledge the fact that it just makes no sense. You can’t sit there, and of all countries, attack Israel?”
The UN Human Rights Council’s Agenda Item Seven, titled, “Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories,” singles out Israel for perpetual censure. Since 2007, only Israel has been rebuked for human rights abuses on a regular basis, within the framework of this permanent item on the Human Rights Council’s agenda.
“There is no legitimate human rights reason for this agenda item to exist,” Haley told the UN agency on Tuesday. “It is the central flaw that turns the Human Rights Council from an organization that can be a force for universal good, into an organization that is overwhelmed by a political agenda.”