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February 8th, 2021 
Awake Goy 
US President Joe Biden’s administration will reengage with the United Nations Human Rights Council, three years after former President Donald Trump withdrew over what his administration called bias against Israel and a lack of reform.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will announce on Monday that the United States will return to the Geneva-based council as an observer, a senior State Department official said on Sunday.
“We intend to do so knowing that the most effective way to reform and improve the Council is to engage with it in a principled fashion,” the official said.
“We intend to do so knowing that the most effective way to reform and improve the Council is to engage with it in a principled fashion,” the official said.
“We know that the Council has the potential to be an important forum for those fighting tyranny and injustice around the world. By being present at the table, we seek to reform it and ensure it can live up to that potential,” the official said.
The plan was first reported by the Associated Press.
The decision is likely to draw criticism from conservative lawmakers and many in the pro-Israel community as Trump’s withdrawal from the body in 2018 was praised, over the UNHCR’s biased treatment of Israel and its longtime failure to address serious abuses throughout the world.
“For too long the Human Rights Council has been a protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias,” former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said at the time.
Trump, a Republican whose “America First” agenda contributed to his decisions to withdraw from multiple international organizations and agreements, quit the Human Rights Council in 2018 – halfway through its three year term – over what it called chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform.
The council damages the very cause of human rights, she noted, and also pointed out the long-standing issue of anti-Israel bias.
Israel is “singled out in a way that no other country is singled out,” she added.
The 193-member UN General Assembly is due to elect new members to the council later this year. Members are elected for three years and cannot serve more than two consecutive terms. Candidates are elected by secret ballot in geographical groups to ensure even representation.
The next session of the 47-member Geneva-based council is due to start later this month.
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