Israel has severed contacts with the United Nations Human Rights Council after the body launched an international investigation into Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. The decision means that the fact-finding team the United Nations planned to send to the West Bank will not be allowed to enter the territory or Israel. Yigal Palmor is a spokesperson for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Yigal Palmor: “With its disproportionate obsession about Israel, by passing a totally unthinkable number of condemnations on Israel — and Israel only, or almost only — the Human Rights Council has made all cooperation with it completely useless. They have made the situation as it is now, and we have therefore decided to sever our working ties with this body until further notice.”

Ghassan Khatib, a spokesperson for the Palestinian government, criticized Israel’s decision.

Ghassan Khatib: “This is a new indicator and another piece of evidence that Israel does not respect international law or organizations. Therefore, this position should form a challenge to the international community and should drive them to hold Israel responsible, not just verbally, but also in practical terms, in a manner that will force Israel to stop violating the rights of the Palestinian people.”