U.N. Wants to Condemn Israel for ‘Inhumane’ Acts Against Palestinian Children

CNS reports that the United Nations budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal period is $5.4 billion, and the United States has carried (and will carry) approximately 54% of it. Additionally, the U.S. contributes much more via donations. In fiscal year 2010–the most recent year such figures are available–the U.S. contributed $7.69 billion to the U.N.

However, according to The Washington Free Beacon, the Trump administration is considering cutting funding in the wake of the United Nations’ unfair targeting of Israel:

The U.N. is working to add the Israeli Defense Forces, or IDF, to a list of entities such as terror groups that are responsible for inhumane acts against children…

The latest action against Israel would add the IDF to the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflicts, which would designate the Jewish state’s fighting forces as one of the worst offenders of children’s human rights in the world. Other groups and entities on the list include terrorist entities and forces that kill children en masse.

During the final month of the Obama administration, the U.N. reprimanded Israel for building settlements in the West Bank.

The latest salvo by the United Nations would condemn one of the most ethical militaries in the world. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) do everything they can to reduce civilian casualties when defending themselves from organizations like Hamas. The IDF drops leaflets and makes mass phone calls in order to warn Palestinian civilians of imminent strikes; they also “roof knock,” dropping non-explosive devices on the roofs of targets in order to allow civilians time to flee prior to an attack.

Hamas makes Israel’s job all the more difficult by hiding munitions in hospitals, U.N. schools, and mosques, essentially using civilians as shields.

The BBC reports that during the 2014 Israel/Palestinian conflict “more than 4,800 rockets and 1,700 mortars were fired from Gaza towards Israel between 8 July and 26 August [2014]. Around 224 projectiles are believed to have struck Israeli residential areas.”

Hamas is the antagonist in this story.

The Washington Free Beacon quotes an anonymous White House official, who said: “In a region where the use of civilians, including children, as human shields is routine, singling out Israel for condemnation is, in a word, ridiculous,” and “if the United Nations’ Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict has nothing better to do with the United States taxpayer dollars that fund it than engage in a vendetta against our ally Israel, perhaps we should rethink that support.”

If the United States withdrew even half of its funding from the United Nations, it would constitute a major blow to the international body.

One cannot condemn a nation that, in the defense of its own people, and using the most ethical techniques possible, is forced into a situation in which collateral damage is dealt. The blame should lie at the feet of the organization that uses civilians–specifically children–as human shields.

If the United Nations refuses to acknowledge that, and would rather blame Israel for alleged war crimes, then perhaps, as the White House official noted, the U.N. doesn’t deserve our money.

Parting shot–here’s United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, slamming the U.N.’s bias against Israel: