ISRAEL

Follow-up - State Reporting

            Action by Treaty Bodies, Including Reports on Missions

CEDAW, A/61/38 part I (2006)

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Annex III

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Letter dated 3 February 2006 from the Chairperson of the Committee addressed to the Deputy Permanent Representative of Israel

            I refer to your letter of 10 August 2005, concerning the consideration of Israel’s third periodic report by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women at its thirty-third session, held from 5 to 22 July 2005.

            Having considered the letter in closed meetings, the Committee disagrees with the assertion that the constructive dialogue held between the Committee and the State party was disproportionately politicized, and is of the view that the dialogue took place in accordance with the usual procedure. The Committee stresses that the promotion of equality of women and men, and thus matters covered by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, is inherently political.

            The Committee also highlights that experts serve in their personal capacity, as outlined in article 17 of the Convention. Experts perform their duties and exercise their powers as members of the Committee within the solemn declaration they make upon assumption of those duties.

(Signed) Rosario G. Manalo

Chairperson

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Follow-up - State Reporting

            Action by State party

CEDAW, A/61/38 part I (2006)

...

Annex III

Letter from the Deputy Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations addressed to the Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and response of the Chairperson

Letter dated 10 August 2005 from the Deputy Permanent Representative of Israel to the Chairperson

            I would like to express our appreciation for your expertise and leadership in the recent session of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Your guidance and stewardship proved invaluable to the productivity of the debates and the moving forward of the conference agenda.

            The State of Israel attached great importance to the session as was evident in the level of its delegation. The preparations for the session were both extensive and thorough and the delegation was well prepared to answer a wide range of questions on the progress made in the areas of interest.

            Unfortunately, however, some experts who chose to focus their questions on political rather than professional issues disproportionately and unjustifiably politicized the dialogue. Efforts by the delegation of Israel to maintain a strictly professional and a matter-of-fact approach throughout the discussion were not met with the expected response. We regret that, due to this state of affairs, the opportunity to engage in a fully constructive dialogue with the Committee was somewhat missed.

            Although we value your opportune intervention, which helped to defuse the undesirable tension, we were particularly troubled by the approach of Krisztina Morvai, which we found to be aggressive at best and outright hostile more often than not. Ms. Morvai created an atmosphere that stands in clear contradiction to the goals of the Convention specifically and the Division for the Advancement of Women and the United Nations in general. In the interest of safeguarding the future efficacy of the work of the Committee, we wish therefore to highlight Ms. Morvai’s unprofessional attitude and express our sincere hope that such conduct is not repeated.

            I kindly ask that you give serious consideration to this matter as well as the means to tackle it, so that the good practices that have become a tradition in the discussions of the Committee remain untarnished. I would kindly request that you circulate this letter as an official document of the Committee and bring it to the attention of all members of the Committee.

            Should you wish to further discuss the matter, please do not hesitate to call upon me.

(Signed) Daniel Carmon

Ambassador

Deputy Permanent Representative