Middle East Monitor / February 13, 2020
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed a report issued by the United Nations human rights office on companies and commercial entities that have business ties with illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Netanyahu said that Tel Aviv will not stand idly by and will fight it with full force, adding that the UN rights council was a “biased and uninfluential body”.
“Instead of dealing with human rights this body is trying to blacken Israel’s name. We reject any such attempt in the strongest terms and with disgust,” he said.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz described the report as a “black list” that aims to harm Israel.
For his part, head of the opposition Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) party, Benny Gantz, claimed that the report represents a “black day for human rights” adding on Twitter that the current High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachele, has “lost contact with reality”.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki welcomed the report, calling it “a victory for international law”.
The long-awaited report includes a list of 112 entities with business links to the illegal Israeli settlements including Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia Group and Motorola Solutions.
