US will not take floor at UN rights debate on Israel, Palestinians

GENEVA - The United States will not take the floor at the main UN human rights forum on Monday during the annual debate on violations committed in the Palestinian territories, a US spokesman told Reuters. The move at the 47-member state forum where Washington unfailingly defends Israel, follows signals that the Obama administration is undertaking a "reassessment" of relations with Israel. The last time that Washington spoke under that stand-alone agenda item was in March 2013, UN records show. "The US delegation will not be speaking about Palestine today," a US spokesman in Geneva told Reuters in response to a query as the debate began. He declined further comment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's allies acknowledged on Sunday that his election-eve disavowal of a Palestinian state had caused a rift with the White House, but blamed US President Barack Obama's unprecedented criticism on a misunderstanding. - Reuters