On Friday, President Obama rammed a resolution through the United Nations, with the US technically abstaining, that reshaped the nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict on a fundamental level. It’s worth noting, of course, that the UN itself is an immoral body in which human rights violators like China and Russia preach about the morality of states which do not have a UN Security Council seat, in which the UN Human Rights Council offers equal input to terror states like Iran. It’s worth pointing out that the UN has a long history of aiding and abetting terrorism and murder.
Obama’s UN resolution didn’t change his long-standing anti-Semitic administration’s Israel policy (here’s a link to me denouncing his administration in precisely those terms in 2014). But here’s what Obama’s long-awaited stab-in-the-back against Israel actually changed.
1. Now The UN Says Israel Itself Is Illegitimate. The UN sanctioned Israel’s international legitimacy in 1947. Now, however, the UN has essentially rewritten international law to condemn Israel’s existence. As Omri Ceren, senior advisor to The Israel Project, states, “UNSCR 2334 existential not political. Past UN resolutions about Israel doing X. 2334 ex post facto rewrites international law about what Jewish state is…2334 flips West Bank legal status: Jewish state had great claim (mandate, San Remo, Sevres) vs. weak Arab claim (because 1948 rejection).” Further, Ceren points out, “2334 shows hostile anti-Israel diplomats can move goalposts any time. If 1948 lines can be imposed, why not 1947 lines? Or earlier?” Furthermore, the basis of Israel’s existence is Biblical – and that involves recognition that Israel is Jewish land, particularly those areas central to the Biblical narrative, nearly all of which are located in Judea and Samaria. This resolution declares the holiest site in Judaism, the Temple Mount, Arab territory. That’s historical rewriting. It also means international complicity in mass transfer of Jews from Jewish territory — 400,000 Jews live outside the “green line,” and the UN wants Palestinian Arabs to be able to expel all of them, even while lying about Israeli “apartheid” against its Arab citizens, who have more rights than Muslims in any Muslim-governed country.
2. Oslo Is Dead. Oslo was a dead letter for years thanks to Palestinian Arab intransigence and terrorism, but the United States’ policy had been stable since 1993: America would veto any resolution regarding settlements, since that was an issue for bilateral negotiation toward a two-state solution. Now, the United States has undercut that policy, destroying the very basis of Oslo.
3. Obama Wants To Dictate A Resolution. Obama isn’t interested in a peace process, or in Israel defending itself. He wants to cram down a resolution on the Israelis that would involve them handing away territories won in a defensive war and integral to their survival and indeed, very existence. Israel will never accept such a resolution. This makes Israel seem like an international villain simply for desiring to exist and defend its raison d’etre.
4. Israelis Could Be Hauled Before International Courts. Right now, the International Criminal Court has been considering a prosecution against Israel for settlements. This UN resolution provides additional impetus for such prosecutions. That could involve hauling Israeli citizens who live east of the so-called “Green Line” before court if they have the temerity to step outside Israel. That would require the agreement of foreign countries to enforce ICC mandates.
5. Boycott Against Israel Could Be On The Table. The Europeans have shown no willingness to boycott the Iranian terror regime, but their eagerness to please that regime could drive them to attempt to sanction Israel for violation of this morally benighted resolution.
Obama knew all of this. It’s why he pursued the resolution with such vigor.
In reality, much of this is unlikely to occur. Most countries have no interest in enforcing UN resolutions and ICC mandates, and incoming President Donald Trump has already pledged to fundamentally rethink American relations with the UN over this mockery. In the end, Obama’s latest UN anti-Semitic gambit will go down in history as just the fitting end to his foreign policy catastrophe of a presidency – a presidency in which he gave the Iranians a clear path to a nuclear weapon, allowed Russia’s territorial aggression in Ukraine, oversaw genocide in Syria, but saved his ire for the Jews.