NEW YORK — The United Nations General Assembly passed more resolutions critical of Israel in 2022 than against all other nations combined, contributing to what observers call the world organization’s continued one-sided focus on the Jewish state.
According to a tally by the pro-Israel monitoring group UN Watch, the General Assembly passed 15 anti-Israel resolutions last year, versus 13 resolutions criticizing other countries.
Russia was at the center of six resolutions condemning its invasion of Ukraine. North Korea, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, Iran and the USA each passed a resolution.
Saudi Arabia, China, Lebanon, Turkey, Venezuela and Qatar, which have poor human rights records or have been involved in regional conflicts, were not affected by any resolutions criticizing them.
Since 2015, the General Assembly has adopted 140 resolutions criticizing Israel, mainly for its treatment of the Palestinians, its relations with neighboring countries, and other alleged wrongdoings. During the same period, it passed 68 resolutions against all other countries, UN Watch said.
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In Friday’s latest anti-Israel resolution of the Assembly of 193 Nations, she agreed to a call for the International Court of Justice to weigh the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Palestinian-sponsored resolution passed by 87 votes to 26, with 53 abstentions.
A UN General Assembly vote on December 30, 2022 on a resolution asking the International Court of Justice to consider the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Screenshot/UN)
The resolution, titled “Israeli practices and settlement activities adversely affect the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories,” calls on the Hague-based International Court of Justice to “issue an urgent opinion” on Israel’s “ongoing occupation, settlement and annexation.” of Palestinian territory.”
The ICJ is the highest UN court for settling disputes between states. Its judgments are binding and influence public opinion, but there is no enforcement mechanism. The court is separate from the International Criminal Court, which is also located in The Hague.
Other anti-Israel measures over the past year have focused on the “occupied Syrian Golan”, Palestinian refugees, nuclear proliferation, pollution in Lebanon, settlements and the stalled peace process.
The UN has a long history of passing resolutions against Israel, and both Israel and the US accuse it of bias. Israel has accused the Palestinians, who have observer status at the UN, of trying to use the world body to bypass peace talks.
Israel has branded the International Court of Justice resolution as biased and dismissive of Israeli security concerns. Former Prime Minister Yair Lapid led a diplomatic campaign, contacting over 50 world leaders to rally opposition to the move.
Palestinian UN Envoy Riyad Mansour addresses the General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York on December 30, 2022. (Screenshot/UN)
Israel’s UN envoy Gilad Erdan called the resolution a “moral taint” and criticized it for only calling Jerusalem’s Temple Mount by its Arabic name and for holding the vote during Shabbat.
In a sharply worded statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was not bound by the “despicable decision.”
Netanyahu’s new hard-line government, which was sworn in on Thursday, is likely to further fuel tensions with the United Nations and the international community.
The Fourth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly will vote on measures to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the United Nations in New York on November 11, 2022. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
None of Netanyahu’s coalition partners demonstrably support a two-state solution with the Palestinians, some support the annexation of the West Bank without granting equal rights to Palestinians in those areas, and many also vehemently oppose any coordination or strengthening of the PA.
In addition to the resolutions, there are two open-ended UN probes into Israel, the only country subject to such scrutiny. Members of both investigations are harshly critical of Israel and have been shown to make anti-Semitic statements.
The UN special rapporteur, who led one of the inquiries and whose anti-Semitic comments were uncovered in a Times of Israel investigation last month, said last week Israel is barring her from entering Palestinian territory. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
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