…Dianne Lob, Chair, William Daroff, CEO, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Vice Chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, issued the following statement:
“We strongly support the initiative by members of Congress urging Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to reverse the UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC)’s Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, following Israel’s response to Hamas firing 4,000 rockets at civilian targets last May. The absence of any explicit mandate, despite unlimited funding, reveals this COI as a one-sided probe, which again demonstrates the clear anti-Israel bias we have seen repeatedly at the UN body.
No other member state in the history of the UN has been singled out for taking defensive military action to protect its civilian population from existential threats. Israel has a fundamental right to self-defense in accordance with international law, as do all other UN members states.
We are deeply grateful for the continued support from members of Congress, particularly U.S. Representatives Josh Gottheimer (NJ), Vicky Hartzler (MO), Robert B. Aderholt (AL), Colin Allred (TX), Don Bacon (NE), Gus M. Bilirakis (FL), Ben Cline (VA), Tom Cole (OK), Jim Costa (CA), Henry Cuellar (TX), Mike Gallagher (WI), Andrew R. Garbarino (NY), Jared Golden (ME), Vicente Gonzalez (TX), Mark E. Green, M.D. (TN), David P. Joyce (OH), John Katko (NY), Doug Lamborn (CO), Ted W. Lieu (CA), Elaine Luria (VA), Kathy Manning (NC), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA), Stephanie Murphy (FL), Donald Norcross (NJ), Tom O’Halleran (AZ), Scott H. Peters (CA), Kathleen Rice (NY), Mike D. Rogers (AL), Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA), Brad Sherman (CA), Albio Sires (NJ), Darren Soto (FL), Abigail D. Spanberger (VA), Elise Stefanik (NY), Bryan Steil (WI), Haley Stevens (MI), Thomas R. Suozzi (NY), Ritchie Torres (NY), Fred Upton (MI), Juan Vargas (CA), Filemon Vela (TX), and Ann Wagner (MO).
We call on Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to prioritize the effort to end the unjust COI and expect Congress and the Biden administration to reject the COI and other anti-Israel resolutions at the UN. As the Congressional letter states, ‘Shockingly, the COI resolution makes no mention of the terror group Hamas – which initiated the conflict by launching missile attacks on Israel – and does not include any mention of Israel’s right to defend itself.'”
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