The Jerusalem Post

US utilizes new UN strategy that puts Israel on offensive

US vetoes resolution calling for ‘int’l protection’ of Palestinia­ns, then demands vote on its own proposal

- • By MICHAEL WILNER Jerusalem Post Correspond­ent

WASHINGTON – When the Trump administra­tion demanded a UN Security Council vote on Friday that was meant to counteract a Kuwaiti resolution condemning Israel, Jerusalem saw the birth of a new diplomatic strategy that it hopes will become the norm.

Under the plan, Israel would no longer face hostile votes in the council without the US counter-punching, demanding a vote on language that calls out “the hypocrisy of the council,” Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon told The Jerusalem Post on Friday.

“This is changing the rules of the game – we are now on the offense,” Danon said. “It’s the beginning of a new strategy and of new rules.”

The US vetoed Kuwait’s resolution, in the works for weeks, in a Friday afternoon vote – alongside abstention­s from the United Kingdom, the Netherland­s, Poland and Ethiopia. Israel was pleased with the extent of opposition to the measure and considers the tally a mark of progress, although Israeli officials expressed concern with France’s vote in favor.

“The final text is certainly not perfect. We would have liked it to establish clearly Hamas’s responsibi­lity, and condemn the rocket launches against Israel,” said France’s envoy, Francois Delattre. “But the deep consultati­ons in recent weeks led to significan­t improvemen­ts.”

The Kuwaiti proposal called for “internatio­nal protection” for Palestinia­ns in Gaza, and declined to mention the role of Hamas in governing the coastal strip. The US measure would have condemned Hamas as a terrorist organizati­on and for its recent firing of more than 70 rockets into Israeli territory, but it also failed, receiving only one vote – from the US itself – in its favor.

“When the United Nations sides with terrorists over Israel, as the Kuwait resolution does, it only makes a peaceful resolution to this conflict harder to reach,” US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said, explaining the US veto. “It is resolution­s like this one that undermine the UN’s credibilit­y in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinia­n conflict.”

Haley said she was offering members an alternativ­e in the form of a resolution that explicitly condemns Hamas for its “grip” on Gaza. “There is an alternativ­e,” she said. “This resolution rightly brings responsibi­lity where it belongs.”

It is that alternativ­e which has sparked hope in the Israeli team that a new strategy has taken shape.

“From now on, whenever there’s going to be a resolution like this condemning Israel, it won’t be just a US veto that follows,” Danon said. “There will be a proactive effort to expose the hypocrisy of the council.”

 ?? (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters) ?? US AMBASSADOR to the UN Nikki Haley speaks with Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon before a Security Council vote on an Arab-backed resolution for protection of Palestinia­n civilians, at the UN headquarte­rs on Friday.
(Shannon Stapleton/Reuters) US AMBASSADOR to the UN Nikki Haley speaks with Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon before a Security Council vote on an Arab-backed resolution for protection of Palestinia­n civilians, at the UN headquarte­rs on Friday.

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