Israel must be included in Western nations' group on UN human rights council, allies say

[oberliner]

Six of Israel’s allies in the West have demanded an upgrade of its status on the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

A Western diplomat said the demand by these six countries, members of the Western European and Others Group in the UN, was made in the wake of Israel’s agreement to resume ties with the UNHRC and appear two weeks ago at the council’s Universal Periodic Review on human rights issues.

On November 6, the ambassadors of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, France and the United States sent a letter to the UN’s institutions in Geneva and to the ambassador of Spain, who heads the group of Western countries on the HRC. In the letter, a copy of which was sent to Haaretz, the six ambassadors wrote that the time had come to bring Israel into the WEOG.

“We, the undersigned, would like by this letter to recall Israel’s longstanding request to join the WEOG regional group in Geneva. We are strongly supportive of Israel’s membership at the earliest opportunity. We request that you kindly include this issue on the agenda of the next WEOG meeting in Geneva, to be held as soon as possible,” the letter read in part.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.558730

[Violet_Crumble]

1. Well, I can't see any reason why they shouldn't be a permanent menber of WEOG...

I know there's stuff about having one more member increases the pool when it comes to serving on the Security Council, but that's not a good excuse to keep from admitting Israel as a full member of WEOG...

btw, if I've just repeated what the article said, it's coz I didn't read the article due to the paid subscription thingy at Ha'aretz...

[bemildred]

2. +1 to all that. nt

[azurnoir]

3. Israel has been a temprary member of WEOG since 2000 with permanent renewal status since 2004

so this step is just a given, that said seeing as how the 47 members of the UNHRC are elected by the UNGA, it is unlikely in the current political climate that Israel would see membership anytime soon

[Violet_Crumble]

4. I don't think it is a given, though...

This isn't the first time other members have requested that Israel have permanent membership of the group, and from what I've read the sticking point boils down to the EU needing to make a blanket decision on behalf of all the EU members. And if there's something I know about the EU, getting agreement out of it where all member states agree is as rare as finding a diamond in the egg you crack open to fry...

I found some interesting exchanges between WEOG and Israel here that I hadn't seen before...

http://dazzlepod.com/cable/08UNVIEVIENNA165/

[azurnoir]

5. the difference between permanent renewal and simply permanent seems quite small indeed

but does make for a 'nice' talking point

[Violet_Crumble]

6. There is a fair bit of difference...

I was just reading up on it. Israel's involvement in the group is limited to New York, so it can't participate anywhere else, which does limit what it can be involved in. And if there was very little difference, I'd be questioning why some members of WEOG have a habit of stonewalling Israel's request to become a permanent member without the renewal stuff. It does seem unfair to me, as Israel's natural place is in that group...

[azurnoir]

7. that difference is minimal as at UN headquarters in NYC where the UNGA meets Israel has the rights

of full membership in WEOG, in fact if it were the reverse then there would be some great differences