Israel stops UN rapporteur from visiting Palestinian territories
Foreign Ministry spokesman says Israel will cooperate with all rapporteurs 'except when mandate is anti-Israel and Israel has no chance to be heard'.
Israel recently banned a United Nations rapporteur on human rights from traveling to the Palestinian territories, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem said Monday.
Makarim Wibisono, the Indonesian UN special rapporteur on human rights in the territories, was to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories last week, to prepare a report to be presented at the UN General Assembly in New York this fall.
"We did not permit the visit because Israel cooperates with all the international commissions and all (UN) rapporteurs, except when the mandate handed to them is anti-Israeli and Israel has no chance to make itself heard," Emmanuel Nahshon said.
Israel had previously prevented Wibisono from entering Israel in 2014, Nahshon said. Wibisono had subsequently written his report based on meetings with Palestinian officials in Jordan.
The special rapporteur is considered the UN's senior expert on the issue of human rights in the Palestinian territories. The holder of the position is appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, an institution that has long singled out Israel for censure.
The UN Human Rights Council, to which Wibisono reports, has been conducting an investigation into the actions of both Palestinian militants and Israel during last year's conflict in Gaza.
Its report is expected to be published in the coming days, and the council is scheduled to debate it on June 29. Israel has preempted the release of the report with the publication Sunday of the results of its own investigation into the fighting.
While Wibisono reports to the council, his visit was for a separate, annual assessment in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
