The United Nations vs. Israel Again

The news from Israel these days is terrible.

Many pro-Israel Americans are justifiably concerned about the new government about to be announced by incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which includes some of the most vile characters ever elected to office in Israel, including Avi Maoz, who is known for anti-LGBT views and political extremists Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose strident opposition to non-Orthodox Judaism and contempt for Arab-Israelis should frighten all who care about Israel’s democratic and Jewish character.  Violence in the West bank, reflecting the weakness of the Palestinian Authority and the corruption of its leader Mahmood Abbas has led to a dramatic uptick in terrorist incidents and deaths among both Jews and Palestinians.  Israel’s shadow war with Iran in Syria, and its tense relationship with Moscow also complicate matters, to say the least.  The situation in Israel is difficult indeed, and remains an ongoing concern. 

Sadly, we must add another series of difficulties that Israel’s leaders and diplomats must address, that of the barrage of anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, and anti-Semitic attacks that emanate from the United Nations on a daily basis.  Now I know that for many, if not most of the readers of my Shabbat message, the United Nations lost its moral authority years ago. Yet while we in the pro- Israel community might scoff at the significance of the UN, the fact remains that outside the US, the UN remains highly influential and relevant.  We may console ourselves with the knowledge that its agenda had been hijacked by dictators and despots, but the anti-American, anti- Western, and anti-Israel sentiment for which the UN is famous is a strategic threat to Israel’s international standing that unlike us, Israel can’t ignore.  So you can scoff and dismiss the UN all you want.  But Israel spends a great deal of time, energy, and resources defending itself against these attacks.

Tuesday, November 29 was an important day in Jewish (and United Nations) history.  On that day in 1947, the UN General Assembly voted on the Partition Plan, which called for independent Jewish and Arab states in what was then British-controlled Mandatory Palestine. Jewish representatives accepted the plan, but the Arab world rejected it and launched the 1948 war. The Palestinians have rejected additional offers of statehood since.

So how did the UN observe the 75th anniversary of this historic event?   The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday voted to adopt a pro-Palestinian resolution to commemorate the Nakba, the Palestinian term for Israel’s establishment. The resolution also calls for a “commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Nakba, including by organizing a high-level event at the General Assembly Hall” in May 2023. This resolution was adopted by a vote of 90-30.

It gets worse.

Among the sponsors of the resolution were Egypt and Jordan, with whom Israel has a peace treaty, diplomatic relations, and extensive security and military cooperation.   Arab and Muslim states that Israel has ties with (in addition to Egypt and Jordan) also voted in favor, including Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates, proving what so many rational supporters of Israel have known for years.  Despite real achievements and diplomatic advancements (which I do not want to minimize) in its relationships with nations throughout the world, especially among several Arab and Muslim nations, Israel remains essentially the political version what young people derisively label a booty call, whose suitors are not interested in her personality, but rather her powerful military assets and her friends in Washington. 

It gets even worse.

This horrible resolution was but one of 15 resolutions targeting Israel in 2022.  That is a lot even by the low standards of the UN.  The same body that so frequently criticizes Israel only approved 13 such resolutions for the rest of the world combined.  Yes, you read that correctly.  In a world filled with legendary human rights abusers like North Korea, China, Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, and Syria (to name only a few), only Israel, a democracy facing unique threats and challenges that no other democracy faces, is singled out for opprobrium.  In the words of Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a Geneva-based non-governmental watchdog organization “The UN’s latest assault on Israel with a torrent of one-sided resolutions is surreal.  Israel is the Middle East's only democracy, yet these resolutions empower the region's despots and terrorists. It’s absurd that out of a total of 28 UN General Assembly resolutions that criticize countries this year, more than half are focused on one single nation — Israel. Make no mistake: the purpose of these lopsided texts is not to promote human rights, but to demonize the Jewish state.”

How true, and at the same time, how sad and predictable.  It’s just the United Nations vs. Israel -- again

 

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