U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry addresses reporters
IN PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry addresses reporters with South Korea's Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se (not pictured) about the 2+2 Ministerial meetings, at the State Department in Washington October 24, 2014. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

Amidst the air of discord created by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the U.S criticsing the potential Iran deal, John Kerry, the U.S Secretary of State delivered a strong defence of Israel before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Balanced Approach Needed

In his speech at the Council on Monday, Kerry re-affirmed America's steadfast commitment to the Middle East ally and called up the council to take a “balanced approach” towards Israel. The Rights Council used to target Israel with criticism in its resolutions and investigations. The most recent being the Israeli war excesses in Gaza against Palestine militants. The council is also readying a new report on Gaza war of July 2014 and may release it by the end of March, reports AP.

Assuaging Israel

Kerry’s remarks are also seen as an effort by the Obama administration to blunt complaints that it is trying to ditch Israel by trying to work out a nuclear deal with Iran. Resisting criticism that seeks to blight Israel on human rights front, Kerry drew the Council's attention to places such as Syria, North Korea and Ukraine and sought to blunt the council's "deeply concerning record on Israel."

The U.S State secretary said, "No one in this room can deny that there is an unbalanced focus on one democratic country," and decried that no country other than Israel has a permanent agenda on the council's schedule. Kerry noted that the council's alleged obsession with Israel will undermine the credibility of the entire organisation.

Kerry made clear that the U.S. will oppose any effort by a group or participant in the U.N. system seeking to arbitrarily delegitimise or isolate Israel. This is because, in the matter of human rights, no country on earth should be free from scrutiny but neither should any country be subject to unfair or unfounded bias, Kerry asserted.

Netanyahu Sees Threat

Meanwhile, visiting Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed America's largest pro-Israel lobby, The American Israel Pubic Affairs Committee, in Washington DC on Monday and said the emerging U.S.-Iran deal will be a big threat to Israel's security, reports Al Jazeera.

"Iran is the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in the world," Netanyahu said and warned against Iran "developing" a nuclear weapon. He said, as the prime minister he got a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these dangers while there is still time to avert them. Israel is concerned that U.S. President Barack Obama's Iran diplomacy will allow Iran to develop atomic weapons.

The 16,000 delegates of AIPAC were also addressed by Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, and Susan Rice, national security adviser. Rice reassured the delegates that the U.S-Israel relationship is "not negotiable and never will be."

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