Since yesterday the Jewish world as well as the Israeli political world has been obsessed with the UN vote and the fact that the US did not exercise its veto in the vote. Israeli ministers including Netanyahu himself, called it the knife in the back of Israel and a very anti Israeli resolution. Prime Minister Netanyahu stated tonight that “ Obama administration has carried out an underhanded and an anti-Israel maneuver at the UN Security Council.” Nothing about the nations like Russia who actually voted for the resolution and did not abstain. My twitter feed has been full statements from many of the Republicans that I follow ( yes I follow people I usually do not agree with) about what terrible act this was- how this proves how anti- Israeli Obama is.
Wow is all I can say- people seem to have lost their mind, on many levels. Lets start with the fact that even if you do not agree with the resolution, it is a resolution under Article 6, which means there are no enforcement mechanism. Second there was hardly anything new in the resolution-it says that the UN and the world does not recognize any activity beyond the 67 lines as legal. Nothing new in that, and clearly under international law it’s clearly true. The only really negative thing for Israel is the fact it calls on the world to differentiate between products produced in the West Bank ( 4% of Israel’s export) and those in Israel proper. In a strange way while some people think this might help the BDS movement, in fact it could have the opposite impact since that same differentiation between Israel proper and the territories could serve as a break to general BDS against Israel.
The most absurd aspect of the reaction is the fact that two weeks ago Prime Minister Netanyahu who initially opposed the passage of the law that would legalize the building on private Palestinian lines, warned that if it was passed there would be a UN resolution. For internal political reasons he supported the misguided law and what he warned in fact has taken place . Read my article in Newsweek from two weeks ago- it explains all of this.
I also find the statements that this resolution is going to hurt the chance for peace- Really- I am not a big believer in peace. I am sad to say I do not believe there will peace in my lifetime, I do not see the Palestinians making the concession necessary, and neither do I see us making the needed concessions, so saying this resolution will decrease the chances of peace is absurd. I am still waiting for Israel’s peace initiative.
Finally, to all the lovers of Israel in America- understand that if you carefully read this resolution that other then the reference to East Jerusalem at least half of Israelis would agree with it. This resolution deals almost exclusively with the settlement in the West Bank, settlements that have grown not because most Israelis want them to, but because of the nature of the Israeli political system that give extreme views greater weight. Obama is no more a hater of Israel then every voter of Meretz and the Labor Party. His speech at Peres funeral was one of the best Zionist speeches that I have heard in a long time- It easily could have been given by Ben Gurion or any of that generation. Yes its not the speech the Bibi would give- and Bibi is our Prime Minister- but its a long road to go from thinking that Bibi is a problematic Prime Minister to saying that someone is anti Israel or worse anti semitic.
On a related note, I went tonight to a press conference by Yair Lapid- the person with the best chance of unseating Prime Minister Netanyahu. I tweeted before the press conference began the question will he break right or will he break left- I actually knew the answer in advance based on what he said to me after the Iran deal was announced-he was going to break right- and indeed he did- saying he had worked with the government to stop the the resolution, and attacking the “left “ for celebrating the passage of the law. He did attack the Netanyahu government for not being prepared and for the fact that there is no foreign Minister at the moment. He said that Netanyahu had complained of a tense relationship with Obama, but wrongly claimed that our relations with other countries was much better. I asked him what exactly was bad in the resolution- and there he fudged his answer- stating that the resolution calls for a return to Six Day War borders, does not allow for building a terrace on a house in the territories, and finally calls on Israel to accept the Arab Peace initiative as it is, without dealing with refugees. All of which is inaccurate-the resolution lists a long list of proposals and calls on the sides to use them as a basis of negotiations. As to the Six Day War borders it is like every other resolution or position of almost every government in the world it says that any agreement must be based on those borders with changes agreed to by the parties. Lapid however, is trying once again to make sure he is the alternative of Netanyahu and is convinced that the only alternative that can win is one that leans right, he may be right.
7 Responses
The US abstention in the UN vote is the same as Russia’s vote for it.
The reference to East Jerusalem in the resolution is substantial, not trivial.
Obama may have some sympathy for Israel but only in the abstract. He does not a have a practical bone in his body, so his actions are inimical to eventual outcomes. Witness the horrible Iran deal.
Trump may bend too far to the right on Israel, but it is far better than what is happening with the left. I am really fearful of it, especially with what is happening on campuses. Now, with the UN resolution, it will be even worse.
Marc is 100% correct on this. Of course the UN is hypocritical. What’s new.
But clearly Netanyahu’s actions have brought this about. The only flaw in his article is that everyone knows Lapid is trying to get as far right as he can and still be in the center. So no surprise there.
Not sure what the problem with the Lapid part is- its not all that relevant in the greater sense of things, but it was the first press conference I attended that I asked a question in Hebrew as it was being carried live on the radio -so for me it was a moment..
Marc, the problem is not this particular resolution, but rather the position of Israel in relation to the UN, and the world. Is there any reason to think, for instance, that there would be more support for Israel in the UN if building had been limited to the area around Jerusalem and the Golan Heights? I am fairly sure things would be no better. The US supplied Israel with a limited amount of defense at the UN that has now been taken away, and that is not likely to return. From the perspective of Israel the change signaled by the US abstention is momentous.
I doubt the US would have abstained if Israel had kept it commitment to remove all the illegal settlements. If Israel stated once and for all that it would only build on our side of the wall and no where else I think tha Quartet would have a hard time condemning Israeli action. It would not bring about peace- since the Palestinians are not willing to compromise on things like the refugees- but it would allow us to finalize our borders
You have confused me. Which settlements does the US consider legal? In any case, there has been talk in the press for months that Obama would not have any new UN resolutions condemning Israel vetoed and that speculation, when put to the test, proved correct.
Marc,
Here’s what I had sent to Chucky Boy, Obama’s lackey in the US Senate noting what I had I sent the dumb ass schmuck of a President who is still unfortunately in power.
“I am so sick and tired of your lame excuses for your failures.
Here’s the difference between Bibi and you.
1. Bibi has balls. You don’t.
2. Bibi knows how to make a deal. You don’t.
3. Bibi knows his history. You don’t.
4. Bibi knows the value of loyalty and respect for relationships . You don’t and you have no respect.
5. Bibi knows you can’t impose a settlement on the Isrealis and Palestinians. You don’t.
6. You can’t expect the Palestinians to negotiate directly with Israel when they know they have fools and idiots like you who are under the illusion that they want to make a deal and are willing to accept the reality of Israel.
7. Bibi knows the difference between a few trailers on land that is a “settlement” and a bustling community of hundreds of thousands of people that for all intensive purposes are cities.etc.
8. Bibi knows that you can’t reverse years of physical history. This is not 1949 it is 2016 almost 2017. Do you know how many years that is? That’s 67 years. Put another way, it was before you were born. Do you expect your entire history prior to 2016 to be wiped out.”
Please do everything in your power to overturn this absurd regulation.
Have a great day!