Jerusalem severs ties with 7 UN agencies, citing anti-Israel bias |
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on Tuesday Israel’s withdrawal from several United Nations agencies and associated organizations for reasons ranging from their alleged anti-Israel bias to “ineffective bureaucracy.”
The agencies Israel withdrew from, effective immediately, are the: Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict; UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women); UN Conference on Trade and Development; UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia; UN Alliance of Civilizations; UN Energy; and Global Forum on Migration and Development.
In a statement announcing the move, the Foreign Ministry said it was ceasing cooperation with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict after it added the IDF to a “blacklist” in its annual report on children in armed conflict, along with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
“Israel is the only democratic country to be listed, alongside ISIS and Boko Haram,” it noted, adding that Israel already cut ties with the office in June 2024.
Similarly, it said, Sa’ar pulled Israel out of UN Women after it “deliberately ignored all........