Israel cuts UN funding following anti-settlement resolution
Israel announces it will be suspending a significant portion of its annual contributions to the United Nations for 2017, but Netanyahu is still freezing settlements.
Israel announced on Friday it would be suspending a significant portion of its annual contributions to the United Nations for 2017, in response to the approval of UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemned Israel’s presence in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem.
The Israeli Mission informed the UN that the cut, amounting to approximately six million dollars, is an act of protest and represents the portion of the UN budget allocated to anti-Israel bodies.
These UN bodies include the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), the Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR), the Work of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories (SCIIHRP), and the Special Information Program on the Question of Palestine of the UN Department of Public Information.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, commented on the decision and said, “It is unreasonable for Israel to fund bodies that operate against us at the UN. The UN must end the absurd reality in which it supports bodies whose sole intent is to spread incitement and anti-Israel propaganda.”
Danon added that “now is the time to implement real change at the UN. We seek to stop the practice where the UN is used solely as a forum for unending attacks against Israel.”
Israel’s cut in funding is the first in a series of steps under consideration by the Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Mission in reaction to the recent Security Council resolution.
The Israeli Mission is also planning additional initiatives aimed at encouraging structural change within the UN with the ultimate goal of ending anti-Israel activities. The Israeli Mission is planning on moving forward on these initiatives once the new U.S. administration takes office later this month.
On Thursday, the United States House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution rebuking the United Nations for passing Resolution 2334.
The bipartisan House measure, which passed by a majority of 342 to 80, demands that the UN repeal or fundamentally alter the measure it passed.
In the wake of the anti-Israel resolution, several American lawmakers have called for the U.S. to stop funding to the UN until the resolution is reversed.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has announced he will propose a measure to pull U.S. funding for the UN unless the UN Security Council repeals the resolution it passed.
