A UN report on establishing a database of companies with business interests in Israeli settlements in West Bank may be delayed until later this year, diplomats and activists said on Friday.
The UN Human Rights Office had been due to present its first report on the politically-charged issue at a session that opens on Feb. 27, which Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, is also due to address.
But, the report is not ready and will be deferred for many months, at least until September, sources said, adding that an announcement was expected on Monday.
“There is a need for more time; it is a very complex issue. You need to have a clear vision of how you list the companies, what is the exact criterion,’’ a Western diplomat said.
The issue is sensitive because companies appearing in such a database could be targeted for boycotts or divestment aimed at stepping up pressure on Israel over its West Bank settlements.
Goods produced there include fruit, vegetables and wine.
Israel assailed the UN Human Rights Council last March for launching the initiative, calling the database a “blacklist” and accusing the 47-member-states forum of behaving “obsessively” against Israel.
The council had voted in favour of creating the database after 32 states backed a proposal by Pakistan, while 15 abstained, including Britain, France and Germany.
The U.S., Israel’s main ally, had no vote but voiced strong objections.
U.S. human rights Ambassador, Keith Harper, said at the time that the resolution was “far outside” the council’s mandate and highlighted its “one-sided nature”.
U.S. President, Donald Trump, who meets Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Wednesday, has adopted a less uncritical stance on Israeli settlement-building in occupied territory than he appeared to advocate during his campaign.
Jeremie Smith, Director of the Geneva Office of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, said they were aware of efforts by some groups to delay release of the database.
According to him, we’ve heard unofficial reports that there is strong pressure by states, which did not support the creation of this database to try to delay its release and bury its findings.
The UN Council said last year that businesses had “enabled, facilitated and profited” from the growth of settlements, including through investments, loans, provision of utilities and exploitation of natural resources.
Some settlement products had been labelled as originating from Israel.
It called for a list of enterprises to be updated annually on the “human rights and international law violations involved in the production of settlement goods”. (dpa/NAN)