Like most UN condemnations of Israel, this resolution is malicious and deeply flawed. It is based on false facts and allegations, it violates international law and it denies indigenous rights to self-determination. Most egregiously, the resolution also ignores Arab-Palestinian leaders’ 75-year campaign of terror and their rejection of all offers by Israel, the U.S. and the UN itself to give them land for a state in exchange for peace.

Despicably, despite these flaws, 124 countries—including France, Spain and Japan—voted to pass the measure. Some 43 nations sheepishly abstained, and 14 brave states—including Argentina, Czechia, Hungary, Paraguay and the United States—stood tall and opposed it.

The good news is, UN resolutions by the General Assembly (GA) have no effect in international law. The bad news, as always, is that Israel suffers untold economic, political and social costs when its reputation is sullied in such international forums—even when the resolutions are transparently malicious and false. If anything, Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon was understating when he called the measure “diplomatic terrorism.”

Indeed, the resolution has no other goal than to advance the Palestinians’ decades-long effort to destroy the state of Israel—in a single violent coup, as Hamas attempted last October 7, or piece by piece, following Yasser Arafat’s failed strategy.  In any case, every legal, historical and moral argument supports Israel’s continued sovereignty, as well as its control over disputed territories.

Israel’s control of Judea and Samaria is 100% legal under international law. First, there is no occupation. An occupation only exists when one country illegally controls the territory of another country. Judea and Samaria were never legally part of any other country. Though Jordan annexed the territory in 1950, the overwhelming majority of nations rejected their conquest. Puzzlingly, the UN passed no resolutions demanding Jordan end its illegal occupation.

Furthermore, Palestine was never a country, nor have Palestinians ever historically owned or controlled any land anywhere in the Middle East. Under Jordan’s rule, Arab Palestinians held Jordanian citizenship. After defeating Jordan’s attempted invasion of Israel in 1967, Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in which Jordan relinquished all rights to the territory. In other words, “Palestinian Territory” is a fiction.

The UN resolution violates international law in three ways: First, it is based on a decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) deeming Israel’s “occupation” of Judea and Samaria illegal. But the ICJ is nothing more than a political body masquerading as a court of law. Its judges are not impartial jurists accountable to international law. Rather, they follow the directives of governments that appoint them, as well as their own biases. The current Court includes judges from countries—such as China, Somalia, South Africa and Lebanon—that have no respect for others’ territorial rights and that in any case traditionally side with the Palestinians.

Second, the resolution countermands other UN resolutions and several international agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. These call for a negotiated settlement to the final status of Judea and Samaria, including the principle established by the UN Security Council and the Oslo Accords—which the Palestinians signed—that any Israeli withdrawal be conducted only in exchange for peace.

Third, the resolution advocates the forcible transfer of all Jews out of Judea and Samaria. Forcibly transferring a population is specified by the Rome Statute as a crime against humanity.

This resolution denies the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their native land. Jews have lived in Judea and Samaria since biblical times, and have established several sovereign commonwealths therein, with Jerusalem as their capital. The very name Judea denotes the territory as the indigenous homeland of the Jewish people.

In contrast, the name “Palestine” was invented by the Romans with the sole purpose of erasing any connection between the Jews and their homeland. Shamefully, the UN is now using the term “Palestine” for the same purpose the Romans did.

Never in the history of the UN has the overwhelming majority of its members voted to forcibly expel a people from their indigenous homeland. Such an atrocity would likely never even be considered if the people subject to expulsion were not Jews.

The resolution ignores the Palestinians’ 75-year campaign of terror and repeated Israeli offers of statehood. The Palestinians could have had a state when Israel proclaimed its independence. But they and their Arab allies rejected the 1947 UN partition plan, choosing instead to launch a war to exterminate the Jews and their new state—the first of several unsuccessful wars aimed at destroying Israel.

Yet, because of its strong desire for peace, Israel offered the Palestinians statehood three times in the space of 10 years. In 2000, Israel offered the Palestinians statehood in 92% of Judea and Samaria, plus the Gaza Strip and even a capital in Jerusalem. The Palestinians refused, instead launching the Second Intifada, during which they murdered one thousand Israelis in terrorist attacks.

In 2001, even as the Second Intifada raged, Israel made another, more generous offer—97% of Judea and Samaria. But again, the Palestinians said no. In 2008, Israel made yet another offer—99.4% of Judea and Samaria. And again, the Palestinians said no.

In fact, Palestinian actions over decades confirm they don’t want a country of their own next to a Jewish state. Rather, they aim to destroy the Jewish state and replace it with one state called Palestine.

Please make the point when speaking with family, friends, colleagues—or in letters to the editor—that the UN’s membership—and the world—would be better served if the body focused instead on pressuring the Palestinians to recognize the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their native land and to cease their genocidal slaughter of Jews.

If you agree we need to spread this truth, please use your email browser to forward this Hotline issue to fellow lovers of Israel—and encourage them to join us by subscribing to the Hotline at no charge.

Best regards,

Jason Shvili, Contributing Editor
Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME)

P.S. The riots, vandalism and illegal trespassing on American college campuses have sharpened the knives of the Israel haters. It’s become clear that the “pro-Palestinian” protesters are purely anti-Israel and support the genocide of Jews “between the river and the sea.” Scandalously, we’ve also seen hard evidence that university administrators are willing to ignore or openly support the antisemitic hate speech and harassment of Jewish students—though they would never permit such behavior against other minorities. I hope you’ll agree that we supporters of Jewish students and hate-free campuses need to speak out. FLAME’s new hasbarah—explanatory message—“Stop Terrorism on Campus”—calls for four actions to eliminate campus outlaws and to restore rights to all students. Please review this convincing, fact-based editorial, which FLAME recently published in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Tampa Bay Times, Denver Post and Mercury News. This piece will also be sent to all members of Congress, Vice President Harris and President Biden. If you agree that this kind of public relations effort on Israel’s behalf is critical, I urge you to support us with a donation.

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