Major 11th Hour Victory for Israel at the UN

By 

Jay Sekulow

|
December 31, 2014

2 min read

Israel

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The United Nations has rejected a resolution that could have crippled Israel, imposing on it indefensible borders and forcing hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens from their homes.

The resolution was yet another attempt by the terrorist-led Palestinian Authority to circumvent U.N. resolutions and peace agreements and leave Israel dangerously vulnerable to further terrorist attacks.

Its defeat is a major victory for Israel and its citizens’ security.

We’ve been raising the alarm about this dangerous resolution over the past few weeks.  The Obama Administration was on the verge of abandoning our ally Israel, making noncommittal statements about its intentions to vote on the resolution.

The U.S. typically avoids contentious votes on such outlandish resolutions strongly declaring its opposition, often avoiding a vote at all.  The Obama Administration’s confusing and tentative at best statements about this resolution sent a dangerous signal to the rest of the world that America may be willing to abandon its ally Israel.

More than 72,000 Americans signed our petition demanding the Obama Administration veto this treacherous U.N. resolution.

We are pleased to report that the U.S. has vetoed the measure.  

In addition to the U.S. veto (which could have defeated the measure on its own as one of the permanent five members of the U.N. Security Counsel), the measure fell one vote short of the nine votes needed for passage.  Thankfully, with Australia’s “no” vote, the resolution would have failed even had the Obama Administration abandoned Israel and abstained from the vote.

While we are grateful that the Obama Administration, at the overwhelming demand of the American people, did the right thing, it set a disturbing precedent.  Had the U.S. strongly opposed the measure from the beginning, it may have been able to avoid a needless circus vote at the U.N.

Hamas terrorists fired hundreds of rockets at Israeli civilians and have now official joined the Palestinian Authority in a “Unity Government.”  Israel continues to face the threat of terrorist attacks as this terrorist-led Palestinian government attempts to wage lawfare at the U.N. and international tribunals.

We will continue to work directly at the United Nations and in Congress to defend Israel from these vicious attacks.