Israel may be on the verge of renewing cooperation with the United Nations Council on Human Rights, a year and a half after Jerusalem severed ties with the international body.Negotiations between Israel and the council will reach a pivotal stage in Geneva within the next two days, as ambassadors of Western states on the council vote on an agreement which would bring Israel back into the UN body. If the outline of the accord is passed, it would represent a significant diplomatic victory for Israel, which has boycotted the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva since March 2012.
Then-Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman cut off ties with the commission, following the latter’s decision to convene an international committee to investigate the settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel's negotiations with the council have received strong assistance from the United States, Switzerland, and France, which acted against other Western states. The Israeli side of the negotiations has been led by Ambassador Aharon Leshno-Yaar, head of the Foreign Ministry’s international organizations department, who reported to Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin.
The outlined plan for resuming cooperation contains two clauses which, if passed, would be considered a significant diplomatic victory for Israel:
The first is that Israel would join the permanent group of Western states serving as part of the human rights council, which includes Western European states, Turkey, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. As of today, Israel is not a part of any regional group, a fact that makes it difficult for Israel to garner support for various diplomatic endeavors.
The second clause would limit the use of the council’s “article 7,” which stipulates that any conference on human rights would hold a separate discussion of human rights in Israel and the West Bank. Israel is the only state in the world subject to such a separate discussion.
Within the outline under negotiations, Western European states would commit not to make any speeches at so-called “article 7” discussions. The European commitment would last for the next two human rights conferences, which are set to take place during the next two years. A unanimous vote would be required to reverse this limitation and resume the “article 7” discussions, which will prove very difficult to achieve.
Over the next two days, discussions on the outline will continue among the Western member nations, in an attempt to achieve a consensus. The two obstacles to such a consensus are Turkey, which has yet to agree to allow Israel to join the group, and a few states,including Ireland, Lichtenstein and Iceland, which have expressed reservations regarding commitments to refrain from making speeches during “article 7” meetings.
“It’s all done, and we’re waiting to get an official decision from the Europeans,” said a senior Foreign Ministry official. “If the outline is adopted, it will be a green light for renewing cooperation between Israel and the UN Human Rights Council.” Hmmmm.......Turkey the 'Worst violator of Human Rights in Europe' hold things up......Ironic isn't it?Read the full story here.
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