Israel Condemned at United Nations Security Council

Latest Developments

U.S. Labels Emergency Meeting ‘Counterproductive’: United Nations member states continued condemning Israel at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on August 10, calling on Israel to halt its planned military offensive against Hamas and enter into an immediate ceasefire. After some nations accused Israel of committing genocide and forcing starvation on Palestinians, U.S. Acting Representative to the UN Dorothy Shea said the meeting was “emblematic of the counterproductive role that far too many governments on this council and throughout the UN have played on this issue.” The emergency meeting was called by France, Denmark, Greece, and Slovenia after Israel’s Security Council authorized the IDF to gain military control of the entire Gaza Strip after completing the evacuation of civilians from combat zones into humanitarian areas.
Russia Accuses Israel of Forgetting Lessons of Holocaust: Russia accused Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar of hypocritically shedding “crocodile tears” when he raised the plight of hostages held captive by Hamas during the UNSC’s August 5 meeting and forgetting how Jews were treated during the Holocaust. “Such an attempt to manipulate the Security Council for domestic Israeli interests beggars belief, just like how the Jewish people that faced the Holocaust in the Second World War can today put Palestinians in a ghetto and pursue their total destruction, how quickly the lessons of history are forgotten,” said First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy. Russia has been accused of indiscriminately killing civilians during its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Hamas Draws Encouragement from UN’s ‘Libels and Lies’: The United States said that the UNSC meeting undermined efforts to pressure the Hamas terrorist group to release the hostages and lay down its arms. Rather, its member states “encouraged and rewarded [Hamas’s] intransigence, actively prolonging the war by spreading lies about Israel … and by handing propaganda victories to terrorists.” Shea added, “The most recent round of negotiations collapsed because Hamas drew encouragement from efforts to target Israel with libels and lies, the ill-conceived and performative two-state solution conference, and unilateral announcements regarding recognition of a Palestinian state.” Deputy Permanent Representative for Israel to the UN Ambassador Jonathan Miller briefly addressed the council, condemning the “extraordinary and brazen” language from some of the ambassadors, clarifying that Israel is not seeking to permanently occupy the Gaza Strip, but rather, to “free Gaza from Hamas and enable a peaceful government to rise in its place.”

FDD Expert Response

“Only the presence of the United States on the United Nations Security Council prevents it from sliding into the morass of Israel-hatred that stains the United Nations General Assembly and other UN bodies. For all of their criticisms of Israel, most of the other Council members seem unaware that their performative antics contribute nothing to the goals of releasing the hostages, surging food aid to hungry Palestinians, and securing a future for a Gaza that is no longer ruled by the rapists and murderers of Hamas.” — Ben Cohen, Senior Analyst and Rapid Response Director

“In the Israel-Hamas war, only one party, Israel, follows international law, while the other, Hamas, abuses it. Hamas puts Palestinians in danger precisely because Israel will be blamed for their deaths. The UN system continues to reward Hamas for this strategy by blaming Israel for the suffering that Hamas is causing.” — David May, Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst

“Despite numerous egregious statements made during this most recent UN Security Council meeting, Russia’s claim that the Jewish state has forgotten the lessons of World War II might be the most ludicrous. Nowhere else is the trauma of the Holocaust still felt more acutely than in Israel, where survivors of the Shoah and state-sanctioned Russian pogroms found refuge. Antisemitism and Holocaust denial continue to grow throughout the world, including in Russia, where the libelous forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was first published. As a result of the nationalist fervor stoked by the neo-imperialist regime of President Vladimir Putin, Russian society is imitating the Naziism it once fought.” — Dmitriy Shapiro, Research Analyst