United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonReuters

On the eve of a presentation to the United Nations of a misleading report targeting companies doing business with Israel, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to rescind his preliminary endorsement of the report and to distance his office from the report's biased author, U.N. Special Rapporteur Richard Falk.

ADL lambasted the report, titled "Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories since 1967" and due to be presented tomorrow to the General Assembly, as "tainted from the start in its message and by its messenger."

"While the issue of human rights violations experienced by Palestinians is a legitimate area of concern and inquiry, Richard Falk has repeatedly abused his position as special rapporteur to unleash unrestrained hatred and disdain for Israel," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "This malevolence permeates his official reports and, at times, his personal statements, which include the use of anti-Semitic imagery and comparisons of Israeli actions to those of the Nazis."

As Special Rapporteur, Falk has made it his mission to single out Israel as a human rights violator while using the imprimatur of the U.N. to advance a biased agenda fueled by anti-Israel animus which erodes the credibility of the U.N.

In a letter to Secretary-General Ban, ADL condemned Falk's latest report for focusing on private corporations doing business in Israel – one of the hallmarks of the international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign to pressure companies doing business with Israel. ADL strongly urged Ban to withdraw his support and to publicly distance himself from Falk's "biased and offensive behavior."

"The United Nations should not be complicit in this wholly unjustified effort to single out Israel," Foxman wrote in a sharply worded letter to Ban on the eve of the session devoted to Falk's report. "We believe you should have prevented the Secretariat from being a party to Mr. Falk's anti-Israel agenda. Mr. Falk's entire tenure as Special Rapporteur has served to undermine the credibility of the institution of the United Nations."

In 2008 ADL strenuously objected to Falk's appointment as Special Rapporteur and, more recently, lodged a complaint with the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights over his use of Nazti comparisons to castigate the Jewish state.