The United Nations human rights office on Wednesday issued a report on companies it said have business ties to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a long-delayed move that immediately drew condemnation in Jerusalem.
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In a statement, it said it had identified 112 business entities that it has reasonable grounds to conclude have ties with Israeli settlements – 94 domiciled in Israel and 18 in six other states.
It identified companies listed in the United States, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Thailand and Britain. Among these was US-based home-renting company Airbnb.
"I am conscious this issue has been, and will continue to be, highly contentious," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said.
Her office said the report "does not provide a legal characterization of the activities in question, or of business enterprises' involvement in them."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear he considered the US government's position on settlements under President Donald Trump as more important than the views of UN organizations.
"We will ensure the [administration's] recognition of our sovereignty over those settlements – that will cancel out the entire impact of the United Nations because the United States is more important than the UN," he told Army Radio.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki welcomed the report as a "victory for international law" and urged UN member states to issue instructions to the companies listed "to end their work immediately with the settlement system".
Airbnb said in November 2018 that it would remove listings in Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria. But it said the following April that it would not implement the planned delisting and would donate proceeds from any bookings in the territory to international humanitarian aid organizations.
In an initial reaction, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called the report a "shameful capitulation" to anti-Israel groups.
