The Trump administration, already warning that it wants to slash its payments to the United Nations, this week fired a direct shot at the group’s anti-Israel and “anti-Semitic” trend led by an agency that has put U.S. firms that do business with the Jewish state on a hit list.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is leading the effort and announced a new policy to defend those firms against the “U.N.’s so-called ‘Human Rights Council’ and the high commissioner, Michelle Bachelet.”
In his Monday night address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Pompeo urged American companies to tell the State Department when they are targeted so that the administration can take action and keep U.S. investments to Israel flowing.
“Don’t be intimidated. If you are being subjected to intimidation or harassment because of this database, let America know. And the United States will respond to take actions against members of our business community that are being threatened by this release that was so sorely mistaken,” he said to cheers.
He was blunt in slamming the Human Rights Council, calling its new database of companies doing business with Israel an arm of the so-called BDS movement, the Palestinian-backed “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions” effort.
“For those of you who are watching, the council recently released a database of companies doing business in East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank. That release from the United Nations only serves to facilitate the BDS movement and delegitimize Israel,” he said.
Pompeo added, “How sad. I remember reading it after its release. This is an organization that was set up to ensure that no people ever again faced horrors like the Jews faced during the Holocaust, and it is now anti-Semitic.”
The U.N. has been on Pompeo’s list for a while, and this year, the administration proposed substantial funding cuts, though it’s unclear if Congress will go along.
In his support for investing in Israel, the secretary said that “we share your frustration.”
But, he added, there will be no wavering of support. “We will stand for a strong, free, democratic, and prosperous Middle East and a prosperous Israel at the heart of that Middle East. The more the Middle East embraces Israel, the brighter the future will be. It’s really quite simple,” he said.
