In wake of anti-Israel decision, PM slams UNHRC as ‘hypocritical and biased’

Israeli ministers condemn U.N. Human Rights Council vote to probe Israel’s conduct in response to Gaza border violence • Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked: Council for “anything but human rights” • Public Security Minister Erdan: “Terrorist rights council.”

By Erez Linn, Mati Tuchfeld and Gideon Allon, ISRAEL HAYOM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted a United Nations Human Rights Council decision on Friday to establish a special team to investigate Israel’s conduct during the recent violence on the border with the Gaza Strip.

“There is nothing new under the sun,” Netanyahu tweeted. “An organization that calls itself the Human Rights Council once again proves that it is hypocritical and biased and that its purpose is to harm Israel and support terror. But mostly it has proved that it is irrelevant.”

In a special session at the council’s headquarters in Geneva, 29 out of 47 members voted in favor of establishing a team and sending it to the region to investigate whether Israel used extreme force in the recent violence. Last Monday, dozens of Palestinians were killed as tens of thousands of Palestinians rioted on the border and attempted to breach it and carry out acts of terrorism in Israel, on Hamas’ orders.

The Prime Minister’s Office released a statement saying, “Israel completely rejects the Human Rights Council’s decision, which proved once again that it is controlled by hypocrisy and the absurd.”

The decision “was adopted by an automatic anti-Israel majority whose results were known from the start. Israel will continue to defend its citizens and soldiers as it has the right to defend itself,” the office tweeted.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said, “We will not accept any committee of inquiry by the council, which is founded upon hypocrisy, lies and faulty morality.”

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said, “The Human Rights Council has long ago become a terrorist rights council.”

Education Minister Naftali Bennett said, “The U.N. Human Rights Council has turned into a council that encourages Muslim terrorism.”

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said, “The Human Rights Council is [for] anything but human rights. It is hypocritical, encourages terrorism, supports radical Islam, and human rights don’t make any difference to it at all.”