Tel Aviv, 6 February 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Israel is to follow the United States' lead and leave the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote on X on Wednesday.

The UN Human Rights Council, an intergovernmental body responsible for the promotion of human rights, "has traditionally protected human rights abusers by allowing them to hide from scrutiny, and instead obsessively demonizes the one democracy in the Middle East - Israel," Saar said.

He noted that Israel was the only member "with an agenda item dedicated solely to it" while the country had been "subjected to over 100 condemnatory resolutions ... more than against Iran, Cuba, North Korea and Venezuela combined."

"Israel will not accept this discrimination any longer," he concluded.

US President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday questioning the country's membership in several UN organizations.

Among other things, it provides for the US to withdraw from the UNHRC.

However, the US is not currently a member, as its most recent three-year term on the council ended with the beginning of the new year, meaning a formal withdrawal is not possible.

At most, Washington can decide to no longer participate in the Council's activities as an observer and to no longer apply for membership.

The council is made up of 47 member states elected by a majority in the UN General Assembly, according to its website.

Council members serve for three years and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.