The Jerusalem Post reports that the State Department has issued unusually strong critique of the UN Human Rights Council’s first birthday celebration. In celebrating the supposedly historic occassion, the Council decided to lift special scrutiny of Belarus and Cuba as well as institute, permanently and without any limiting criteria, continuous special treatment of Israel.

The moves were condemned by the US, Canada and by influential Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen who is moving to defund US contributions to the Council in the upcoming Foreign Operations Appropriations bill.