US urges UN not to update list of companies operating in Israeli settlements

The Biden administration is pressuring the UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, not to extend the list of companies who operate in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli officials and an Israeli Foreign Ministry cable.

Why is this important: While the US has long had a position of providing Israeli diplomatic support to UN institutions and has opposed blacklisting in the past, it is unusual for the Biden administration to assist Israel on the matter. given the American opposition to settlements in the West Bank.

Rollback: In February 2020, the UN Human Rights Commission published a list of 112 companies operating in the settlements, considered illegal under international law. Ninety-four were Israeli companies and the rest were from six other countries.

• Five companies on the list were American, including Booking, Airbnb, TripAdvisor, Expedia and General Mills. Since then, Booking has issued a travel warning about settlements. Airbnb announced it would stop allowing listings in settlements on its platform, but later backtracked under Israeli pressure.

Driving the news: Türk must decide by the end of the year whether or not to update the list, according to Israeli officials.

• Israeli officials told Axios they fear that if the list is updated, it will lead to more international companies stopping doing business in the settlements and more broadly in Israel.

In the wings: In early November, the Israeli Ambassador to the UN institutions in Geneva met with Michèle Sison, US Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations Affairs, and Michèle Taylor, US Ambassador to the Human Rights Council of ONU.

• According to an Israeli Foreign Ministry cable about the meeting, US officials informed the Israeli diplomat that Taylor had met with the UN human rights chief and told him that the Biden administration was opposed any update of the blacklist.
• Türk told the US ambassador that he had not yet decided what to do but that he could give a “quiet” update without announcing it officially, the sources said.

What they say : A State Department spokesperson told Axios that US diplomats in Geneva regularly meet with a wide range of interlocutors, including civil society, diplomatic partners and UN staff, including the high commissioner. to human rights.

• “We deeply appreciate these candid exchanges that allow us to discuss a wide range of human rights issues,” the State Department spokesperson said.
• “We refer you to previous US statements expressing our opposition to this and the disproportionate and biased treatment of Israel by the UN Human Rights Council,” the State Department spokesperson said.
• Türk’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

What to watch: The United Nations General Assembly is expected to vote next week on a resolution asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue a legal opinion on whether Israel’s occupation of the West Bank constitutes de facto annexation.

• The United States has actively assisted Israel in recent weeks in pressuring countries around the world to vote against the resolution or at least abstain, Israeli and American officials told Axios.