Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – US Secretary of State John Kerry defended Israel in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on Monday, calling out the council for its unfair singling out of the Jewish state.

“We will oppose any effort by any group or participant in the UN system to arbitrarily and regularly delegitimize or isolate Israel, not just in the HRC but wherever it occurs,” Kerry said.

The UNHRC has a history of approving a record-breaking number of resolutions against Israel, while devoting far less attention to other nations. Furthermore, the UNHRC’s permanent discussion Item 7 mandates that Israel be discussed at every UNHRC meeting, a distinction no other country shares.

A highly critical report on an UNHRC investigation of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza last summer, which was headed by Canadian academic William Schabas before he stepped down from the inquiry in early February, is expected to be released this month. The Israeli government has refused to cooperate with this inquiry, calling it “one-sided.”

“It must be said the (council’s) obsession with Israel actually risks undermining the credibility of the entire organization,” Kerry said.

Kerry’s remarks came despite a public rift between the US and Israel on the issue of Iran, and Israeli Prime Minister’s upcoming speech to the US congress on Tuesday, which many US lawmakers and officials have criticized.

Earlier on Sunday, Kerry downplayed the rift on the ABC program This Week, saying that Netanyahu “is welcome to speak in the United States.”

However, in Netanyahu’s Tuesday speech, which follows a speech by the Israeli prime minister at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference on Monday, Netanyahu is expected to heavily criticize the diplomatic efforts by the US, as part of the P5+1 nation group, to reach a nuclear deal with Iran.

Listen to Kerry address the United Nations Human Rights Council below: