WASHINGTON – Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement after the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a report identifying businesses with ties in the Israeli West Bank settlements.

“I strongly oppose the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) release of a blacklist of organizations including U.S. companies. This list and its public release were driven by politically motivated actors who seek to isolate Israel and undermine its right to exist. Actions like this further fuel support for the deeply misguided broader Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The OHCHR absolutely did not need to publicly release this report to fulfil its mandate in the first place. The United Nations should be more focused on condemning the truly horrific and gross human rights violations of some of the members who sit on that Council like Venezuela or Cameroon. Congress will continue to stand on the side of American companies and against those who seek to undermine Israel’s right to exist.”