Israel withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced.
This move comes a day after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the UNHRC on Tuesday.
"The UNHRC has traditionally protected human rights abusers by allowing them to hide from scrutiny, and instead obsessively demonizes the one democracy in the Middle East - Israel," Sa'ar said in his statement. "This body has focused on attacking a democratic country and propagating antisemitism instead of promoting human rights.
Israel welcomes President Trump’s decision not to participate in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Israel joins the United States and will not participate in the UNHRC. The UNHRC has traditionally protected human rights abusers by allowing them to hide from scrutiny, and…
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) February 5, 2025
"The discrimination against us is clear: In the UNHRC, Israel is the only country with an agenda item dedicated solely to it. Israel has been subjected to over 100 condemnatory resolutions, over 20% of all resolutions ever passed in the Council - more than against Iran, Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela combined.
"Israel will not accept this discrimination any longer!" the announcement concluded.
US withdrawal from UNHRC, UNRWA
US President Donald Trump signed the executive order withdrawing the US from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on Tuesday.
Further, Trump stated that US funding to the UN as a whole is disproportionate.
The order noted that while the US aided in establishing the United Nations in order to avoid future global conflicts following World War II, "some of the UN's agencies and bodies have drifted from this mission and instead act contrary to the interests of the United States while attacking our allies and propagating anti-Semitism."