Israel will immediately cut all contacts with several United Nations agencies and international bodies, following a review conducted after the United States withdrew from dozens of international organizations. Jerusalem said the move was prompted by persistent bias, politicization and anti-Israel behavior on the part of the entities concerned.
Last week, US President Donald Trump The United States withdrew from 66 international organizations and treaties, about half of which were affiliated with the United Nations, accusing the bodies of acting “contrary to the interests of the United States.”“After a review and discussion conducted following the US withdrawal from dozens of international organizations, Israel’s Foreign Minister @gidonsaar has decided that Israel will immediately cut all contacts with the following UN agencies and international organizations. In addition, Foreign Minister Sa’ar has instructed his ministry to immediately examine further cooperation between Israel and other organizations, if necessary, in consultation with the relevant ministries. Further decisions will be made after thorough consideration and additional discussion,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a post on X.The decision applies immediately to the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict; the UN Unit for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women); the UN Conference on Trade and Development; the UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia; the UN Alliance of Civilizations; UN Energy; and the Global Forum on Migration and Development.The State Department said it was ending cooperation with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict after the agency included Israel Defense Forces alongside Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in its annual “blacklist” for children in armed conflict.“Israel is the only democratic country included on the list, along with ISIS and others Boko Haram“, the ministry noted, adding that Israel had already severed relations with the office in June 2024.The ministry said Sa’ar withdrew Israel from UN Women after it “willfully ignored all cases of sexual violence against Israeli women on October 7, 2023.” It said Israel had also withdrawn from the U.N. Agency for Trade and Development and the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for West Asia over “vicious anti-Israel reports” and accused the Alliance of Civilizations of “being used as a platform for attacks against Israel.”Finally, the ministry accused UN Energy of being a “wasteful organization,” said it was an example of the UN’s “excessive and inefficient bureaucracy,” and said the Global Forum on Migration and Development “undermines the ability of sovereign nations to enforce their own immigration laws.”Israel has long accused the United Nations of systemic bias, pointing out that more resolutions are passed against the country each year than against all other countries combined. She was particularly critical of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, accusing it of collaborating with Hamas and promoting anti-Israel incitement long before the Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which the agency denies. Israel has banned UNRWA from operating on its territory and banned its activities in Gaza and the West Bank, citing what it says are entrenched ties to terrorist groups.
