UN accused of 'Palestinian hypocrisy' as resolution calls for ICJ opinion on Israel

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, January 04, 2023

Proponents of Israel condemned the United Nations General Assembly for approving a resolution accusing the country of illegally occupying Palestinian territories, a move the Israeli prime minister called a "despicable decision." 

In a Saturday statement, the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry welcomed a U.N. General Assembly vote asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to provide a legal opinion regarding the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. 

The resolution, titled "Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories," accuses Israel of "discriminatory legislation and measures."

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In addition, the document calls for the ICJ to offer an advisory opinion on Israel's "prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory."

The ICJ is the top court in the U.N. handling disputes between countries. The resolution passed Friday in an 87-26 vote, with 53 abstentions. The United States, the United Kingdom and Germany were among the countries that voted against the resolution. France was among those that abstained. 

Disputed territories are located in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza Strip, which were captured by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. Israel has controlled those territories for over five decades although the international community has long debated sovereignty over those territories. The United Nations has opposed Israel's plans to annex the West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, "The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land nor occupiers in our eternal capital Jerusalem."

"[N]o U.N. resolution can distort that historical truth," Netanyahu stated, adding that Israel was not bound by the "despicable decision."

Netanyahu was reelected as Israel's prime minister this year after Yair Lapid conceded defeat. Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party had formed a political alliance with two other political parties known as Jewish Power and Religious Zionism. 

Israel's new Foreign Minister Eli Cohen criticized the U.N. resolution in a speech Monday, saying, "Palestinian hypocrisy was also manifested during the vote at the UN last Saturday."

"The Palestinians have rejected every single peace agreement offered to them. Palestinian attempts to harm Israel will cost them and will distance resolution of the conflict," Cohen said, according to Al-Monitor. 

"The one who should really stand trial is the Palestinian leadership, which is the only place in the world that rewards those who murder Jews simply because they are Jews."

B'nai B'rith International, an organization dedicated to defending Israel and combating anti-Semitism, condemned the UNGA's request in a Monday statement. The organization accused the UNGA of passing more resolutions against Israel than any other of the 192 U.N. member states. 

"This singling out of the Middle East's sole democracy, one continually forced to battle regional fanaticism and brutal terrorism, is deplorable," B'nai B'rith continued.

"Representing more than politicization of legal instruments, and the diverting of resources and focus from truly critical global priorities, it seeks to delegitimize, indeed criminalize, only the presence of Jews in their one ancestral homeland." 

The organization questioned why the U.N. hasn't subjected the Palestinian Authority or other terrorist groups in the region, such as Hamas, to greater scrutiny.

As CP reported, the Palestinian Authority provides stipends to terrorists, and their families, who have attacked Israelis. 

The Palestinian Authority claims the payments prevent terrorists' families from becoming destitute if their relative, who may have been the "breadwinner," is imprisoned. 

However, the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), a defense and strategic advisory organization, reports that the Palestinian Authority provides payment for acts of terrorism, regardless if a terrorist is the breadwinner or employed.

According to U.N. Watch, a pro-Israel watchdog group, the General Assembly approved 15 resolutions against Israel last year, compared to 13 resolutions criticizing other countries. Russia was at the center of six resolutions for invading Ukraine, while North Korea, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, Iran and the U.S. were hit with one resolution each.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, praised the U.N. vote. In a statement published by Reuters, Abbas said that the "time has come for Israel to be a state subject to law and to be held accountable for its ongoing crimes against our people." 

Basem Naim, an official with the military terror group Hamas, which controls Gaza, made a similar statement, claiming that it was "an important step toward confining and isolating the state of occupation (Israel)." In 2005, Hamas seized control of Gaza after Israel withdrew from the area.