Israel suspends $6 million in funding to the UN

In an “act of protest” against the recent anti-Israel UN resolution, Jerusalem has announced a suspension of funding to the UN.

Israel announced on Friday that it will suspend about $6 million in funding to the United Nations (UN) in an “act of protest” against the recent UN Security Council vote that condemned Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria.

The Israeli government explained that the decrease in the country’s $40 million in total funding for the UN symbolically represents a cut to the portion of the UN budget that is allocated to anti-Israel bodies, including the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People; the Division for Palestinian Rights; the Work of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices, and the Special Information Programme on the Question of Palestine of the UN Department of Public Information.

“It is unreasonable for Israel to fund bodies that operate against us at the UN,” Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said in a statement. “We seek to stop the practice where the UN is used solely as a forum for unending attacks against Israel.”

Israel’s announcement comes a day after the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning the Security Council’s anti-Israel vote.

The anti-Israel resolution stated that Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, “occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem,” have “no legal validity.” It demands a halt to “all Israeli settlement activities,” saying this “is essential for salvaging the two-state solution.”

Instead of casting a veto to support Israel, as is traditional US policy, US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power abstained, allowing the Council to approve the resolution in a 14-0 vote.

Some American lawmakers have also called for cuts in US funding for the world body.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) threatened to campaign for a bipartisan consensus in Congress that would punish those who pushed for the resolution with a cut in US aid— as well as the UN itself, which relies on generous congressional appropriations.

Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) Tom Cotton (R-AK) and James Lankford (R-OK) signaled support for Graham’s initiative.

Likewise, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) called on the US to withhold funding to the UN until it reverses the resolution.

American funding accounts for 22 percent of the UN budget.

By: JNS.org and World Israel News Staff