U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley joined Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department on Tuesday to announce the United States’ withdrawal from the U.N. Human Rights Council.
“This step is not a retreat from human rights commitments,” Nikki Haley said. “On the contrary, we take this step because our commitment does not allow us to remain a part of a hypocritical and self-serving organization that makes a mockery of human rights.”
The announcement comes after the council’s condemnation of Israel for the violence and deaths in the Gaza Strip, even as Hamas admitted that 50 of the 62 Palestinians who died in recent riots on Israel’s border with Gaza were its members. Palestinian Islamic Jihad said three others belonged to the organization.
Kuwait, the council’s Arab representative, said Israel should be condemned “in the strongest terms and immediately cease its military reprisals, collective punishment and unlawful use of force against civilians, including in the Gaza Strip.”