It’s time to fight the United Nations’ anti-Israel bias

How long will world powers, including the United States, allow the UN's obvious attempts to isolate and demonize Israel continue?

Without Israel as its primary target for condemning resolutions and direct isolation, the United Nations (U.N.) would have little reason to exist. It does not condemn or act against state-sponsorship of terrorism by Iran. It looks the other way at ethnic cleansing in China. It is impotent in responding to Russia seizing the territory. But with Israel, as they say, where there is a will there is a way.

 

So, it is without surprise that the U.N. General Assembly is launching an unwarranted investigation against Israel for potential “war crimes” during the latest eleven-day conflict with Gaza. According to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, 243 people were killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Israel reported 12 deaths from Hamas rocket fire. Hamas and its primary supporter, Iran, is walking away from their unprovoked assault without so much as an inquiry into clear criminal offenses. It is illegal to attack civilians and it is illegal to use civilians as human shields. Hamas is guilty of both.

 

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, acknowledged as much as last month by saying Hamas stored “military assets in densely populated civilian areas, and [launched] attacks from them.” Tragically, 680 Hamas rockets that misfired and exploded inside Gaza – killing Palestinians – are also being ignored by the UN.

 

Tellingly, Bachelet admitted that Hamas violated “international humanitarian law,” yet she still chose to purport that “the actions of one party did not absolve the other from its obligations.” In other words, regardless of the violent terrorism and actual war crimes that Hamas had committed against Israel’s citizens, the Jewish state was “not absolved” of the actions they took in defending her people, which included compromising the integrity of military operations by providing unprecedented advance warning of sites being targeted.

 

It would be bad if the UN were morally-equating the attacks of an Iranian-backed terrorist organization with the lawful self-defense of a UN member state. But that’s not what’s happening. Rather, the UN is saying by virtue of its investigation into Israel alone that they hold Israel to one standard and Hamas and Iran – the unlawful aggressors targeting civilians – to far lower standards. This has exposed the UN once more as a biased organization where judgments are pre-determined and the Jewish state is scapegoated. 

 

Anti-Israel prejudice is nothing new from the UN. Since its founding, this 193 member-state body has singled-out and criticized Israel more than any other nation. Even during the global pandemic in 2020, the UN stillfound ways to scathe Israel by directing nearly three-out-of-four of all resolutions against her. Israel was the focus of 17-times more action by the UN than North Korea, Iran, Syria, or Myanmar.

 

The UN’s laser-focused scrutiny of the Jewish state is anti-Israel bias. The UN leadership, its sub-organizations and bullpen full of anti-Israel nations are focused on demoralizing and delegitimizing Israel and her right to exist. It’s sick. It’s sad. It’s anti-Semitic.

 

But the overarching question remains: how long will world powers, including the United States, allow the obvious but attempts to isolate and demonize Israel to continue?

 

Though the majority of UN-member states claim they are wholeheartedly pro-Israel, power-hungry UN bodies and a minority of adversarial nations continue to deny Israel’s right to self-defense and target it for scorn. Their success is the best indicator that the time has come for the United States to double-down on its steadfast commitment to supporting Israel’s safety and security, and to closely examine its own relationship with the UN.

 

Absent systemic reform led by America, Israel will continue to be targeted and America will lose out on the benefit of a UN system that is functional, respected and consistent. Prioritizing change should be driving the Biden Administration’s work in Turtle Bay, where the only constituency that should matter to the president – the American taxpaying public – has had little voice or influence over how elected leaders have engaged with the global diplomatic corps for eight decades.

[The Times of Israel featured this article on June 18, 2021.]

Bi-Partisan Support for Israel in Florida

It's important for state leaders to stand with Israel

| OP-Ed article appeared in the Lakeland Ledger on May, 30, 2021.

Late Thursday news broke of a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. Time will tell how long this cessation of violence lasts, but all people of conscience should welcome this news. In the days of the most recent round of conflict, US support for Israel was integral to getting the situation to the point where Hamas’s rocket fire stopped.

That is why the faithful in Florida applauded the bipartisan chorus of Florida lawmakers in Tallahassee and Washington who spoke clearly, directly and unambiguously about Hamas’s onslaught against Israel. The message from these lawmakers was clear: terrorism is wrong, and America supports Israel.

 

Our elected leaders helped lead the nation and the world in support of one of our most important democratic allies. In doing so, they showed that they understand that there is no justification for the attacks perpetrated by Hamas, and that Israel was defending itself with precision and speed, and in accordance with its obligations to protect innocent lives. By contrast, the thousands of rockets and missiles fired by Hamas, a terrorist organization, inflict nothing but pain and suffering.

As we saw during past conflicts, Hamas’s tactics include desecrating houses of worship by using them as armories and sites for launching attacks. The terrorist group puts its weapons in apartments, schools and hospitals. These actions threaten Arabs, Jews and Christians who all call Israel home, as well as Palestinians who are also the victims of Hamas’s war crimes.

 

Senator Rick Scott said, “These Palestinian terrorists need to know acts of aggression toward Israel will never be tolerated,” and urged President Biden to “take immediate action to remind these terrorists and the world of the United States’ strong and unwavering support of the Israeli people.”

 

His colleague, Senator Marco Rubio, pointed to the necessity of taking a comprehensive approach to fighting the terrorists. In calling for President Biden to “immediately end negotiations with Iran,” he is recognizing that Iran is responsible for funding, arming and training the terrorists because they have a shared goal of destroying the Jewish state.

 

Many other Florida lawmakers – on both sides of the aisle – have recognized that the moral path is simple and the choice of which side to support is clear.

 

Representative Ted Deutch came to Israel’s defense by echoing the need to condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization, noting that Hamas uses “children as shields” and targets civilians. His colleague, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, also condemned Hamas terrorism against Israel, importantly emphasizing that “no people should be subject to a barrage of rocket fire like Hamas has inflicted upon Israelis,” and that she “unequivocally and unconditionally stand[s] with our ally Israel.” Building upon this, Representative Lois Frankel went on to say that, “Israel has a right to defend itself.” and that “Hamas must end its attack and the United States.”

 

All of this is important because it reflects the fact that our pro-Israel values are nonpartisan and unshakable. These were the right messages at a pivotal time, and they were heard by the families huddled together in bomb shelters in Tel Aviv and the soldiers on the front line of the fight to protect America’s strongest ally in the Middle East.

 

I am encouraged and optimistic that America will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel and against terror, but more work needs to be done.

 

Sadly, a minority of Florida lawmakers never spoke up, but it’s not too late to do so. The courageous leaders who stood up in support of Israel should urge their colleagues to clearly and unambiguously do the same and condemn Hamas and their backers in Tehran. Likewise, we Floridians need to do our part too, by demanding that our elected officials reflect our strong pro-Israel values.