Rachel Fraenkel, mother of kidnapped teen Naftali, to appeal to UNHRC in Geneva

The non-profit UN Watch flew Fraenkel to Geneva on Monday, so she could address the United Nation Human Rights Council.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Rachel Frankel, the mother of Naftali Frankel, talks to CNN. (photo credit: COURTESY CNN)
Rachel Frankel, the mother of Naftali Frankel, talks to CNN.
(photo credit: COURTESY CNN)
Rachel Fraenkel plans to ask the international community to help her son and the two other teens that were kidnapped with him, by testifying on Tuesday before the United Nation Human Rights Council in Geneva.
UN Watch, a non-profit organization, which monitors UN activity, flew her from Israel to Geneva on Monday, so she could address the UNHRC.
“We think the world needs to hear her voice,” UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
“It is chance for the mother of the kidnapped boys to speak to the world and to ask them to do what ever they can and to help her,” he said.
“We have not heard anything here at all about the kidnapping,” Neuer said.
Fraenkel’s son Naftali, 16, was abducted from a hitchhiking post in the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank on June 12, along with Gil-Ad Shaer, 16 and Eyal Yifrah, 19.
“This heinous act violates international humanitarian law, which prohibits targeting civilians and the taking of hostages,” Neuer said.
“We are are in awe of Mrs. Fraenkel's strength of spirit, and are grateful for the opportunity to offer her an international platform to appeal for the safe release of her son and the other two boys,” he added.
The council, which is in the midst of its 26th session, is scheduled to debate Israeli actions against Palestinians on Tuesday morning.
The UNHRC has a standing Agenda Item 7 under which it debates, and often attacks Israelis actions, during each session.
Fraenkel flies to Geneva after she, her husband and the other parents of the kidnapped teens, met on Friday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and on Thursday with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon.
Fraenkel, who along with her son, holds dual Israeli-US citizenship, has also met with the US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro.
Since the kidnapping, the families have been largely sequestered in their homes. The Fraenkel family lives in Nof Ayalon, the Yifrah family in Elad and the Shaer family in the West Bank settlement of Talmon.
On Monday evening, a small prayer service was held at the entry to Elad for the safe return of the teens.