Permanent Mission of Israel
Statement by
Ambassador Haim Waxman
Deputy Permanent Representative
 
Explanation of Vote 
A/65/L.78
 
Mr. President,
The Human Rights Council was created five years ago, replacing the notorious Commission on Human Rights. Former Secretary-General Kofi Anan said at the time:
“the Commission’s capacity to perform its tasks has been increasingly undermined by its declining credibility and professionalism…which casts a shadow on the reputation of the United Nations System as a whole” (A/59/2005 para 182). 
Israel was involved in the negotiations five years ago that strove to create a viable, professional, and responsible Human Rights Council – a body that would renew public confidence, and earn the legitimacy and credibility that had been lost by its predecessor.
Unfortunately, five years down the road, the Human Rights Council still suffers from substantial shortcomings, much like the Commission on Human Rights. 
General Assembly resolution 60/251, the founding resolution of the Human Rights Council, states clearly in OP4 that “the work of the Council shall be guided by the principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity”. 
Creating, as part of the Institutional Building Package of the Human Rights Council, one agenda item that addresses human rights situations throughout the world and a separate agenda item targeting Israel alone, does anything but fulfill the principles of the founding resolution of the Council. 
With profound regret, we witness the continued distortion of UN ideals in this organization’s central body for human rights. Like any other country in this hall, Israel should be subject to review and constructive criticism on a fair and impartial basis. However, time and again, instead of equality, universality, and non-selectivity we find discrimination, exclusion, and institutional bias.  This should come as no surprise considering that some of the world’s worst human rights violators sit on this Council and all too often dictate its proceedings. 
Mr. President,
When the review process of the Human Rights Council began in Geneva a year ago, we approached this exercise with an open mind in the hope that the Council would take the opportunity for self-reflection and, in good faith, accept that it has failed to adhere to its mandate under General Assembly Resolution 60/251.
Regrettably, the Council refused to remove item 7 from its Permanent Agenda. The Geneva outcome of the review continues to perpetuate the inherent flaws created in the Institutional Building Package of the Council. When the process continued in New York, we expressed our hope that the appropriate way would be found here, in the General Assembly, to rectify the continued institutional discrimination against Israel in the Human Rights Council. Sadly, this has not been the case. 
Furthermore, during the New York part of the review, Israel repeatedly advocated for the promotion and better implementation of OP8 and OP9 of Resolution 60/251. We truly believe that members elected to the Council should uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights in every corner of the world. Sadly, the outcome before us does not reflect any change in this regard.  
Mr. President,
Agenda item 7 targets Israel alone, casting a dark shadow on the UN system as a whole.
Therefore, Israel was regrettably compelled to call for a vote on this resolution and voted against it.
Before concluding, however, I would like to extend our appreciation to the facilitators for their professional work during the course of the New York chapter of the HRC review process. The facilitators acted with integrity and a genuine will to conduct a transparent and inclusive process. We regret that the end result did not enable us to vote in favor of the final outcome.
Thank you, Mr. President.