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Israel could lose UN General Assembly voting rights

July 13, 2017 at 4:53 pm

Israel could lose its voting rights at the UN General Assembly if the government keeps its pledge of cutting UN funding by $10.7 million.

Since the end of 2016, Israel has cut funding to numerous UN branches in protest of recent rulings they consider to be anti-Zionist, including a Security Council approved resolution that condemned settlement building, and following UNESCO rulings that deemed Israel “an occupying power” and pledged to protect Palestinian heritage sites.

Member states lose their voting rights if they fail to pay their bills for more than two years; however four other countries, namely Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe Somalia have been granted exceptions that allow them to vote, despite not funding the organisation.

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“There is no reason why Israel should contribute to an organisation whose organs work actively to deny Jewish history and work tirelessly in order to harm the only Jewish state,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon told the Jerusalem Post.

Israel hopes to gain a seat on the UN Security Council in 2019, at the same time that it could lose its voting rights in the General Assembly if it keeps to its plan of withholding payments due.