The United Nations Human Rights Commission, which has declared Israel the world's top violator of women's rights, has always had a problem with the Jewish state, Bill Richardson, former U.S. ambassador to the UN, tells
Newsmax TV.
"The UN has always been very hostile to Israel. I used to fight them off when I was one of the ambassadors there. There would be votes like 158-3, the U.S., Israel and [one other] on one side and 180 countries against us," Richardson said Thursday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."
Story continues below video.
Note: Watch Newsmax TV now on DIRECTV Ch. 349 and DISH Ch. 223
Get Newsmax TV on your cable system — Click Here Now
"Israel is not a human rights violator. Israel is a viable democracy. It's the politics of the UN dominated by the PLO, dominated by the Irans, Cubas, and Syrias. The Human Rights Commission itself is a joke. It always has been."
Last month, the UN Human Rights Council condemned Israel for alleged human rights violations against Palestinian women. That condemnation came after a critical report issued by the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women.
Israel has also been under pressure because of the ongoing tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Obama administration.
Richardson, a Democrat who also served as governor of New Mexico and U.S. secretary of energy under President Bill Clinton, said he does not believe those tensions will lead to further isolation of the Jewish state.
"No, the U.S will stand very firmly with Israel. There's no question that there's very bad blood between the administration and Bibi Netanyahu, the prime minister, but that will hopefully subside," he said.
"But I really hope both sides really start calming this negative rhetoric down and we get down to the basic strong relationship because what you don't want is erosion of support of Israel at the UN in Security Council … We can't lose strong Security Council support that we can give Israel."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.