A running joke at the United Nations is that it wouldn’t be Christmas Eve if the U.N. General Assembly wasn’t still deliberating the next year’s budget.
This year, instead of dithering, the grinches at the U.N. delivered an unwelcome gift to Israel: funding for the U.N. Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) commission of inquiry into last spring’s conflict between Israel and Hamas. This is precisely the “disproportionate focus on Israel” President Biden claimed he would combat at the U.N. It’s time for his administration’s policy to match his rhetoric.
In May, Hamas fired more than 150 rockets at Israeli civilian areas, including Jerusalem. Then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Hamas’ action “crossed a red line,” and ordered airstrikes against Hamas targets throughout the Gaza Strip. The conflict, the fourth outbreak of large-scale hostilities between Israel and Hamas in 13 years, only lasted 11 days, but Hamas fired as many rockets and mortars as it did during the entire 50-day-long 2014 conflict.
International media and public outcry against Israel’s legitimate defensive action was immediate. The UNHRC met, members condemned Israel’s defense of its land and citizens and passed a resolution calling for an investigation into any and all Israeli actions, to be conducted on an annual basis, indefinitely. Yet, Hamas’ blatant disregard for the life of both Israeli and Gazan civilians escaped any scrutiny. This is the status quo when it comes to the U.N.’s treatment of Israel…
Blaise Misztal and Morgan Viña are vice president for policy and vice president of government affairs, respectively, at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.
Originally published in The Hill.