Israel, citing ‘bias,’ won’t cooperate with UN rights team

By JAMEY KEATEN and JOSEF FEDERMAN
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — Israel has formally announced it will not cooperate with a special commission formed by the United Nations’ top human rights body to investigate alleged abuses against Palestinians. It says the probe and its chairwoman are unfairly biased against Israel. The decision, delivered in a scathing letter to the commission’s head, Navi Pillay, further strained what already is a tense relationship between Israel and the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council in Geneva. The council established the three-person investigative commission last May, days after an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. It’s the first such commission with an “ongoing” mandate.