Israel - severs ties with UN rights body over settlement probe

Published on Mar 26, 2012 by Euronews

http://www.euronews.com/ Israel has cut ties with the UN Human Rights Council over its investigation into Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The decision means the West Bank fact-finding team announced last week will not be allowed to enter the territory or Israel. It comes after Israeli leaders condemned the UN body, accusing it of being biased and hypocritical.

"They systematically and serially make all kinds of
decisions and condemnations against Israel without even symbolically considering our positions," sais Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.

In response, the Palestinian Authority called on the international community to come down hard on Israel. Its spokesman Ghassan Khatib said: "Israel's decision challenges the international community and they must respond, not only in words but in a practical way, to force Israel to stop violenting Palestinian rights."

Israel's Supreme Court appears to agree. It has given Jewish settlers until August to evacuate Migron the biggest illegal outpost in the occupied West Bank.

A government-backed deal would have let them stay on the Palestinian-owned land until 2015, but the court dismissed that delay extended the deadline beyond the end of March, when settlers were supposed to leave under an earlier ruling.