After boycott, Israel eyes return to UN rights body
Geneva envoy seeks to engage with UNHRC head 'with a view to positively resolving all outstanding issues' in 'complex relationship'
BERLIN (AP) — Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva indicated this week that his country may end its boycott of the UN’s top human rights forum.
In a letter dated June 3, Eviatar Manor said he wants to engage the head of the UN Human Rights Council “with a view to positively resolve all outstanding issues in Israel’s complex relationship” with the 47-nation body.
The letter was released by the UN on Friday.
Israel stopped cooperating with the Human Rights Council last year, accusing it of being biased against the Jewish state because it regularly criticizes Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
The letter was sent before the council’s independent expert on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, slammed Israel’s settlement policy in a report released Thursday.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.