Israel to bar UN fact-finding team from entering

JERUSALEM - The Associated Press

A general view shows temporary homes in the unauthorized Jewish outpost of Migron near the West Bank city of Ramallah in this February 8, 2012 file photo. REUTERS Photo

Israel has cut working relations with the U.N. Human Rights Council, meaning it will bar a U.N. team from entering Israel or the West Bank for a planned investigation of settlements.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor says Israel's top diplomat, Avigdor Lieberman, announced the decision today.

Last week, the U.N. council voted to send a fact-finding team to investigate Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, in a resolution that condemned such activity.

Israel accuses the council of having a pronounced anti-Israel bias because of its disproportionate focus on Israeli policy and actions toward the Palestinians. Israel says the council has ignored human rights abuses in countries such as Iran and Arab nations.