GENEVA, Dec. 6, 2018 — Despite a UN General Assembly vote of 87-57 in favor of a U.S. draft resolution seeking to condemn Hamas for firing rockets into Israel, the text fell short of a rare two-thirds vote requirement imposed in a PLO-backed procedural maneuver, and failed to be adopted.
Israel was then criticized by the GA in a separate Irish-sponsored resolution calling on the Jewish state to “end the occupation.” In total, there will now be 21 resolutions on Israel adopted by the assembly this year, and six on the rest of the world combined.
Reaction by UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer:
“We applaud Nikki Haley for her initiative in producing the first-ever majority of countries voting for a UN resolution to condemn the Hamas terrorist organization. And we condemn the actions of Switzerland, Norway and New Zealand, whose abstentions on a PLO-backed procedural maneuver paved the way for an unusual two-thirds requirement to be imposed on the U.S. resolution against Hamas, thereby blocking its adoption.”
“Ireland should also be ashamed of itself for sponsoring what will be this year’s 21st resolution criticizing Israel, with zero on Hamas or the Palestinian Authority. The UN’s pathological obsession with demonizing the Jewish state only undermines the world body’s claim to speak for universal standards.”
“Sadly, the last time the UNGA adopted a resolution in support of the Israeli people was in 1991 with the U.S.-led repeal of the ‘Zionism is racism’ resolution, which occured 27 years ago this month under the leadership of President George H. W. Bush.”
