In early February 2025, Israel officially announced its decision to withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Council. The United Nations Human Rights Council, which includes 47 member states, is responsible for addressing global human rights violations. However, Israel has consistently claimed that it is unfairly targeted for its actions in Gaza and the West Bank while violations by other countries receive little attention.
The Council passes resolutions that express their stance on human rights issues and actions they would like to take. They can initiate investigations to uncover facts about human rights violations that require deeper understanding or documentation. Additionally, the UNHRC can create special assemblies to investigate serious offenses, such as war crimes. These assemblies collect evidence, hold hearings, and publish reports to maintain accurate news.
Although the UNHRC’s resolutions are non-binding under international law, they can push sanctions on other bodies of the UN, like the UN Security Council. The UN Security Council, unlike the UNHRC, can pass binding decisions that are legally enforceable, and these can include bans on travel, trade of arms, and financial restrictions on a country.
In announcing this decision, Israel argues that the council has failed to maintain neutrality. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has pointed out the council’s history of biased resolutions against Israel, particularly concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since 2006, the UNHRC has adopted 108 resolutions against Israel, which is more than the resolutions against Russia, Syria, North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela combined. Israel left the committee in protest, citing their position that other nations were unfairly targeting their country.
This decision to withdraw gained support from several U.S. officials, including President Trump, who withdrew the U.S. from the council in 2018 for similar reasons. The U.S. expressed concern over the election of countries with human rights violations to the council, such as China, Russia, and Venezuela. President Trump felt that these countries’ membership diminished the council’s effectiveness in promoting human rights. The Trump administration had tried to push for reforms to address the UNHRC’s flaws, particularly regarding its bias against Israel and its membership. However, after these efforts were unsuccessful, the US left the council, feeling that it was counterproductive.
However, many European nations and human rights organizations have expressed concerns that Israel’s withdrawal will impede efforts to hold all countries accountable for human rights violations. Advocates for human rights fear that this move will restrict the UNHRC’s ability to address violations in conflict zones like Gaza.
As Israel withdraws from the UN Human Rights Council, the future of international human rights discussions remains uncertain. This decision could prompt other countries to reassess their participation in the UNHRC, especially those who feel similarly targeted by the council.
