Israeli Prime Minister YairLapid on Sunday stepped up pressure on the United Nations to dissolve the Commission of Inquiry into Israel, appealing to the secretary-general over “anti-Semitic” remarks by a member of the body.The Commission of Inquiry (COI) investigating abuses in Israel and the Palestinian territories was created by the UN Human Rights Council last year after the 11-day war between Israel and armed militants in Gaza.
Israel has categorically refused to cooperate with the commission, which has so far largely blamed Israel as it investigates “all the root causes” of the decade-long conflict.On July 25, Commissioner Miloon Kothari was quoted as referring to the “Jewish lobby” and questioning whether Israel deserved its UN membership, reigniting long-standing accusations that the council is biased against the Jewish state.
“These anti-Semitic remarks are a stain on the entire United Nations and are unbecoming of a person in such a responsible position,” Lapid said in a letter to Secretary-General António Guterres.The commission “is fundamentally tainted by the publicly expressed prejudices of its leadership,” Lapid added, demanding “the immediate dismissal of all three members.”
Israel’s ambassador to Geneva called on the president of the council on Friday to dissolve the commission. Asked in an interview published Monday by the online publication Mondoweiss about criticism of the commission’s member states, Kothari pointed to broader efforts to undermine its investigation.”We’re very disheartened by the social media, which is largely controlled, whether it’s the Jewish lobby or a particular NGO, a lot of money is thrown into trying to discredit us,” he said.Several ambassadors, including from Britain and the United States, also expressed outrage at the remarks.
The commission’s chair, Navi Pillay, a former UN rights chief, said Kothari’s comments “were deliberately taken out of context” and were “deliberately misquoted”. She said his comments reflected the commission’s “disappointment at the continued lack of cooperation”. from Israel with his investigation. Lapid called Pillay’s defense of Kothari “spurious” and accused the commission of “fueling” anti-Semitism.”Insults about a ‘Jewish lobby’ acting to ‘control’ the media recall the darkest days of modern history,” Lapid said.
