Israel's UN Ambassador elected Chair of Human Rights Committee

Ron Prosor 'renowned for his outspokenness on the discrimination against Israel in the Human Rights Council'
 
Israeli ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor was named Chair of the Human Rights Committee election on Tuesday. He is the first Israeli diplomat to supervise elections at the UN and was voted in unanimously by the ambassadors of 170 countries.

"It is a great honor to chair the elections for the Human Rights Committee. The central role Israel plays to advance human rights around the world is the real answer to anyone calling for boycotts against Israel," the Israeli diplomat said in a statement.


Members of the Israeli delegation to the UN stated that the decision to nominate Prosor points to his overarching popularity in New York.

"The choice to nominate Prosor to chair the elections process is a sign of the great admiration other UN ambassadors have for Prosor, who is renowned for his outspokenness on the discrimination against Israel in the Human Rights Council,” Israeli representatives said according to news site Algemeiner.

Israel's standing in the international body has slowly risen over the past few months. In December, the country was invited to join the United Nations Human Rights Council's (UNHCR) Western European group in Geneva.

The UN Human Rights Committee is the organization's diplomatic body responsible for monitoring human rights issues across the world. With 18 members, the committee meets three times a year in New York and hold elections every two years.