Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed Thursday the United Nation human rights office for publishing a list of all the companies tied to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, accusing the organization of “unrelenting anti-Israel bias”, Haaretz reported.
“I am outraged that High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet published a database of companies operating in Israeli-controlled territories. The United States has long opposed the creation or release of this database, which was mandated by the discredited UN Human Rights Council in 2016,” Pompeo said.
“Its publication only confirms the unrelenting anti-Israel bias so prevalent at the United Nations,” Pompeo said, adding that the United States has not provided nor will provide in the future any information to the office to support compilation of these lists.
Pompeo expressed support for the U.S. companies included in the list, and called upon “all UN member states to join us in rejecting this effort, which facilitates the discriminatory boycott, divestment, and sanction (BDS) campaign and delegitimizes Israel.”
Attempts to isolate Israel, Pompeo said, “run counter to all of our efforts to build conditions conducive to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that lead to a comprehensive and enduring peace.”
On Wednesday, the OHCHR said it has reasonable grounds to believe that 112 business entities have ties to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, 94 based in Israel, and 18 in six other countries, Haaretz noted.
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