UN Human Rights Council
UN Human Rights CouncilReuters

The Biden administration is set to announce this week that it will reengage with the UN Human Rights Council from which former President Donald Trump withdrew from almost three years ago, US officials said Sunday, according to The Associated Press.

Trump withdrew from the UNHRC in 2018, citing its longstanding anti-Israel bias. The UNHRC continues to pass resolutions condemning Israel. Last year, it published a list of 112 companies which operate in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

According to Sunday’s report, US officials say Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a senior US diplomat in Geneva will announce on Monday that Washington will return to the Geneva-based body as an observer with an eye toward seeking election as a full member.

The decision is likely to draw criticism from conservative lawmakers and many in the pro-Israel community.

One senior US official said the Biden administration believed the council must still reform but that the best way to promote change is to “engage with it in a principled fashion.”

The official said it can be “an important forum for those fighting tyranny and injustice around the world” and the US presence intends to “ensure it can live up to that potential”, according to AP.

Although the US will have only nonvoting observer status on the council through the end of 2021, the officials said the administration intends to seek one of three full member seats — currently held by Austria, Denmark and Italy — from the “Western Europe and other states group” that come up for election later this year.