Jordanian UN official Rima Khalaf announced her resignation on Friday, saying the secretary general had asked her to withdraw a report in which she accused Israel of being an "apartheid state".
Khalaf, under-secretary general and executive secretary at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), told a news conference:
On Wednesday, the United States demanded that Secretary General Antonio Guterres withdraw an ESCWA report accusing Israel of imposing apartheid on the Palestinians.
Guterres had distanced himself from the report entitled "Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid".
The report concluded that "available evidence established beyond a reasonable doubt that Israel is guilty of policies and practices that constitute the crime of apartheid".
Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon welcomed Khalaf's resignation.
BDS – Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions – is a Palestinian-led movement that lobbies for the boycott of Israel over its occupation of Palestinian land.
It says on its website that BDS was "inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement".
Based in Beirut, ESCWA is comprised of 18 Arab countries, according to its website, which lists the state of Palestine as a full member, and works to strengthen cooperation and promote development.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday "the report as it stands does not reflect the views of the secretary general" and was done without consultations with the UN secretariat.
One of the authors is Richard Falk, a former special UN rapporteur on Palestinian human rights.
Haley in Wednesday's statement described Falk as "a man who has repeatedly made biased and deeply offensive comments about Israel and espoused ridiculous conspiracy theories".
(With inputs from PTI)
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