^{Lana Nusseibeh, permanent representative of the UAE to the U.N., Jan. 5, 2022. Credit: Eskinder Debebe/U.N. photo.}

By Mike Wagenheim

While Hezbollah continued raining down missiles on northern Israeli towns, forcing the displacement of some 80,000 Israeli citizens, the United Nations Security Council called an urgent meeting focused on violence against Palestinians in Judea and Samaria.

The United Arab Emirates, in one of its last acts before its Security Council term expires, called for the meeting. Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s U.N. envoy, said that “it is clear that we are at a crossroads” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, telling Security Council members that they will “have to make bold and perhaps uncomfortable decisions.”

Nusseibeh said Israel has not followed through on its pledges of a “clear end game” for its war on Hamas, claiming the recent violence is pushing forward efforts for a two-state solution with “adequate guard rails.” 

Israel’s ambassador lashed out at the council, however, chiding it for its misplaced focus.

“Why have you not condemned the rocket fire from Lebanon? The situation in northern Israel is reaching a point of no return,” said Gilad Erdan. “If these attacks continue, the situation will escalate and may lead to a full-scale war. Lebanon must be held accountable for the aggression carried out from its territory.”

Erdan admonished council members for consistent claims that violence committed by Jews in Judea and Samaria was eroding a pathway towards a two-state solution.

“There were no Israelis in the West Bank in 1948 and there were none in 1967, yet the Palestinians and Arab countries still sought to annihilate Israel,” Erdan reminded the council, noting that Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israelis in Judea and Samaria since Oct. 7 are 15 times more numerous than those committed by Israelis against Palestinians during the same period.

“The U.N. either distorts or ignores the facts regarding Israeli terror victims. The U.N. is one of the main driving forces for the sick phenomena we are seeing now,” said Erdan, referring to the United Nations as “an accomplice of terror organizations and antisemites.”

The United States sent a lower-ranking member of its delegation to the meeting, with John Kelley, the U.S. mission’s minister counsellor and political coordinator, noting Washington’s implementation of visa restrictions targeting those believed to be “involved in or meaningfully contributing” to undermining peace, security and stability in Judea and Samaria.

“These restrictions reinforce the U.S.’s long-held belief advancing settlements in the West Bank undermines the prospects of a future Palestinian state and a two-state solution, as do any actions that undermine stability in the West Bank, including attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and Palestinian attacks against Israelis,” Kelley said.

Many council members focused more on the war in Gaza than on the situation in Judea and Samaria. Notably, several countries called explicitly for the immediate release of all hostages being held by terrorists in the Strip.

That included France, with its ambassador urging Security Council members to condemn the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, including sexual violence.

“It is incomprehensible that this council has still not been able to do this,” said Nicolas de Rivière.

Albanian Ambassador Ferit Hoxha spoke in similar terms, telling the council, “We are horrified by the emerging hideous stories of sexual violence used by Hamas as a weapon of terror, on Israeli civilians, women and girls.”

Hoxha added, “It is unfortunate and incomprehensible that nearly three months after the unthinkable was savagely unleashed upon civilians in Israel, the Security Council has not been able to issue a condemnation of those terror acts.”

Albania stood out as the one council member who pointed its finger elsewhere.

“Everywhere around Israel, there is one actor, one country, one hand that continues to pull the strings, though its proxies, and this is Iran,” said Hoxha. “Ignoring it is not a contribution to peace.”

Source: JNS