UN criticism of Israel bombing Hezbollah is absurd, says Johnson

Boris Johnson, the UK foreign secretary, has condemned the UN human rights council criticism of Israeli bombing of Hezbollah positions in the Golan Heights as “absolutely preposterous” and “a profound absurdity”.

He was speaking after the UK mission to the UN in Geneva put the UN “on notice” that it would vote against all resolutions about Israel’s conduct in the occupied Syrian and Palestinian territories unless the human rights council ended what the UK mission described as anti-Israel bias.

The overall tone of the UK government approach to Israel, if not its policy, has shifted since Donald Trump’s election, leaving behind the previous enthusiastic support for the US Democrat’s harsh criticisms of Israel’s conduct in the occupied territories.

Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, has already threatened to withdraw from the UN human rights council, and Nikki Haley, the US envoy to the UN, delighted Israel supporters this week when she promised “the era of Israel bashing” at the UN was coming to an end.

The UK mission put the UN on notice about its own approach to Israel on the final day of the council’s 34th session last week.

The move was described as petulant by the SNP MP Tommy Sheppard and was attacked by Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman.

In its statement, the UK mission made clear its “serious concerns about the growth in illegal demolitions and settlement activity” and said the UK stood “shoulder to shoulder with the international community” in support of a two-state solution, but added that the council’s “unacceptable pattern of bias” would only make the goal harder to achieve.

The UK said: “Israel is a population of eight million in a world of seven billion. Yet since its foundation, the human rights council has adopted 135 country-specific resolutions; 68 of which [have been] against Israel. Justice is blind and impartial. This selective focus on Israel is neither. Israel is the only country permanently on the human rights council’s agenda.”

Johnson told MPs at foreign office questions on Tuesday that it was “absolutely preposterous” that there should be a motion condemning Israel’s policy in the Golan Heights “when after all in that region of Syria we have seen the most appalling barbarity by the Assad regime and that was the point the UK government was rightly making”. He added that the UN approach was “a profound absurdity”.

Johnson said he opposed boycotts of goods produced in the occupied territories, saying the choice should be left to consumers.

More broadly in Commons questions, Johnson repeatedly praised America, saying “it was a mature democratic system in which we can confide our trust”, adding that Trump’s claim that GCHQ was involved in bugging the president-elect would have done no more damage to the UK-US intelligence relationship “as a gnat on a rhinoceros or an elephant”. It would not make any difference to the fundamental relationship, he insisted, though he accepted that the allegation itself was absurd and ridiculous.

Johnson was upbraided by Keith Simpson, the Conservative MP and a former parliamentary secretary to the previous foreign secretary William Hague, for dismissing the controversy. Simpson said “The core element of the Anglo-America relationship is based on five eyes and intelligence. President Trump’s allegations repeated from Fox News was not a gnat on an elephant. It was deeply damaging”.

Johnson – who was in the US last week to meet senior administration officials – csaid he had received some encouragement that the Trump administration was changing its stance on climate change. He added that US policy on a range of issues, from the Iran nuclear agreement to the future of Nato and relations with Russia, was now more closely aligned with UK thinking.