The United Nations General Assembly hall. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

A top US Jewish group expressed “deep concern” on Thursday over the recent news that the Palestinian Authority will take over in January leadership of the Group of 77 — the largest bloc of developing countries at the UN.

“It is completely inappropriate for a non-member state to preside over the G-77,” Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (CoP) Chairman Arthur Stark and Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Malcolm Hoenlein said in a statement. “What was once a group created to facilitate the economic advancement of underdeveloped nations will now be a platform for distortion and incitement, augmenting the well-documented anti-Israel bias in the UN.”

“This bloc helps assure the anti-Israel majority in the General Assembly,” Stark and Hoenlein added.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said earlier this week, according to a New York Times report, “The goal of the Group of 77 originally was to facilitate the economic advancement of underdeveloped nations. It is unfortunate that it will now become a platform for spreading lies and incitement. This will not promote the G-77’s goals, and encourages the Palestinians to not engage in negotiations for peace.”