The United Nations (UN) played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Jewish State by passing UN Resolution 181 in 1947, which called for the partition of British Mandate Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. Following Israel's independence in 1948, the Jewish State became an official member-state of the international body.
The international body has a continuing history of a one-sided, hostile approach to Israel. After decades of bias and marginalization, recent years have brought some positive developments for Israel to the UN. Nonetheless, the UN's record and culture continue to demonstrate a predisposition against Israel. Indeed, in a meeting in April 2007, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged to ADL leaders that Israel has been treated poorly at the UN and that, while some progress has been made, this bias still remains an issue. Secretary Ban stated this view publicly during his visit to Israel in August 2013. “Unfortunately, because of the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict, Israel’s been weighed down by criticism and suffered from bias — and sometimes even discrimination,” Ban said in response to a question about discrimination against Israel at the UN. “It’s an unfortunate situation,” Ban said, adding that Israel should be treated equal to all the other 192 member states.
UN Resolutions 242 and 338, which were passed following the 1967 Six Day War and during 1973 Yom Kippur, call for Israel to withdraw from territories occupied in 1967, and for peace talks between Israel and her Arab neighbors based on the land-for-peace premise. These resolutions continue to play a role in the ongoing debate at the UN over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and often cited to criticize Israel’s presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Since Israel’s establishment, Arab member states of the UN have used the General Assembly (GA) as a forum for isolating and chastising Israel. With support from third-world nations, particularly the Non-Aligned Movement, and others, the Arab states have had little difficulty passing harsh anti-Israel resolutions through the GA. Even today, the strength of these groups in the world body allows them to continue rebuking Israel. While anti-Israel resolutions are easily passed in the GA, this is not the case in the Security Council, where resolutions are binding in nature, as the United States has used its veto power to prevent the passage of such resolutions.
In the 1970s, the Arab bloc used its power to establish and authorize funding for several UN committees and divisions of the Secretariat which primarily carry out the anti-Israel agenda. Among these are: The Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat, The Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices in the Territories, and The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. Today, these bodies continue to be deeply engaged in promoting programs and initiatives that are harshly critical of Israel.
A low point at the UN was the passage of the Arab and Soviet-sponsored United Nations resolution of November 10, 1975 which declared Zionism a “form of racism and racial discrimination.” The highly politicized resolution was aimed at denying Israel its political legitimacy by attacking its moral basis for existence. The resolution was finally repealed on December 16, 1991.
For decades, Israel was the only member state consistently denied admission into a regional group, the organizational structure by which member states can participate on UN bodies and committees. The Arab states continue to prevent Israeli membership in the Asian Regional Group, Israel’s natural geopolitical grouping. As a result, Israel long sought entry into the Western and Others Group (WEOG) and in May 2000 was granted admission in New York, but not in Geneva, the seat of several UN bodies and subsidiary organizations. Israel's participation in the UN, therefore, is still limited and it cannot fully participate in UN Geneva-based activities.
The Human Rights Council
The UN Human Rights Council (HRC), which replaced the Commission on Human Rights in March 2006, has continued its predecessor's extreme focus on and biased treatment of issues relating to Israel, particularly in comparison with its mild action on pressing international human rights crises. The permanent agenda of the HRC includes a specific item targeting Israel - Agenda Item #7 – which is titled: "Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories: Human rights violations and implications of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and other occupied Arab territories and the Right to self-determination of the Palestinian people. Israel is the only country to appear on the HRC's permanent agenda, while other countries such as Iran and Sudan, notorious for their human rights abuses, are included as part of the general debate.
The HRC has appointed a few “Special Rapporteurs” on “the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967,” whose biased mandate has been evident in their one-sided reports on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Two of the most problematic Special Rapporteurs have been John Dugard – who in 2008 justified Palestinian terrorism as an “inevitable consequence” of Israel’s actions – and Richard Falk – who has made a number of outrageous comments about Israel, including endorsing the anti-Israel BDS movement and comparing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to Nazi activity during the Holocaust.
The HRC has also initiated a number of “investigations” of Israeli military action following recent conflicts between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. In 2009, it published the so-called “Goldstone Report” (named for the investigation’s head Justice Richard Goldstone of South Africa) which accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza during its military operations in December 2008 – January 2009 (Operation Cast Lead), including the deliberate and premeditated targeting of civilians. While the report contained some discussion of Palestinian actions, including charges that Hamas violated international law, the focus of the report and its recommendations were on Israel, causing Israel, the United States, some European countries and others in the international community to reject the report’s validity. In 2011, Justice Goldstone published an op-ed where he withdrew the report’s claim that Israel deliberately targeted civilians, and commended Israel’s independent investigations into charges of abuse.
In 2015, the HRC published a report on Israel’s 2014 military operation against Hamas in Gaza (Operation Protective Edge), which accused both Israel and Hamas of violations in international law which could amount to war crimes. The report accused Israel of using disproportionate force in Gaza, and not doing enough to prevent civilian casualties. Israel and US rejected the report.
Palestinian Statehood Activities
The UN has also become a vehicle for the Palestinians to avoid direct peace negotiations with Israel by taking unilateral action to gain statehood recognition.
In September 2011, the Palestinians began the process of securing UN admission by submitting an application to the UN Security Council. The Palestinians ultimately decided to “postpone” a vote on their admission after it became clear that they lacked sufficient support for approval.
On October 31, 2011, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) granted “Palestine” membership, marking the first time the Palestinians had gained full admittance into a UN organization.
In 2012, the UNGA voted overwhelmingly to upgrade the Palestinians to non-member observer status, effectively recognizing the State of Palestine, a move that was rejected by Israel and the US.
There have been some recent positive developments at the UN with Israel accomplishing a major first when the UN's Second Committee (Economic and Financial) adopted an Israeli-initiated draft resolution dealing with agricultural technology for development in 2009.
In addition, the UN has begun to address other issues of concern to the Jewish community, particularly anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, in a highly visible way. In January 2015, the UNGA held its first ever special session on the rise of anti-Semitic violence worldwide. The event was cosponsored by the US, Israel, the 28 EU members and other countries, and featured a statements and speeches by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and a number of government officials.