Month: December 2023

Uncategorized

The isolation of USA and Israel on the global stage: a UNSC perspective

Multiple attempts have been made by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to end Israel’s war on Gazans by bringing about a ceasefire. The UNSC has five permanent members: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly – see here. These 10 non-permanent members are:

The UAE drafted a resolution following the invocation of the rarely used Article 99 by the United Nations Secretary General (UNSG). The resolution entailed the demand for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza along with unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas. The resolution also:

…” reiterated its demand that all parties comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, notably regarding the protection of civilians.  Further, it… requested the Secretary-General to report to the Council on an urgent and continuing basis on the state of implementation of the present resolution”.

97 UN member states endorsed the draft resolution within 24 hours of its dissemination. When it was put to the vote on 8 December 2023, 13 member states, including three permanent members with veto powers (China, France, Russian Federation) voted in its favour. The US decided to exercise its veto power to block the resolution with the UK abstaining from it. Robert Woods, representing the USA, really cut a lonely figure – see video here.

The veto power exercised by the USA at the latest UNSC deliberations demonstrates yet again that it is prepared to endure utter humiliation and isolation in the global stage to protect Israel and its vicious war on Gazans. The scale of death and destruction is so horrifying that it has unleashed an unrelenting movement of pro-Palestinian protests across the world. Here is an example from London.

The US administration keeps professing that it cares deeply about the loss of civilian lives and has been cajoling Israel to do its best to protect civilian lives as it continues its brutal military campaign on Gazans in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas. Sadly, actions speak louder than words as the veto power exercised by the USA has shown. This has been compounded by the commitment by the USA to aid and abet Israel through copious supply of arms and ammunition. In any case, the USA has always been a major bilateral donor to Israel (especially after 1970), even though the latter is now one of the richest countries in the world – see graph below. US military assistance accounts for 15 percent of Israel’s military budget.

If the USA was serious about protecting civilian lives by stopping the carnage in Gaza, it could have easily done so by withdrawing its military support to Israel. Instead, it is prepared to accept global opprobrium and accept the price that Israel is essentially a pariah state, especially in the Global South. The USA is prepared to accept that some of its European allies would go against is position, such as France (which the voted in favour of the UAE resolution), Malta and Switzerland (both which the voted in favour of the UAE resolution). There are media reports that France, Spain, Belgium, and Malta want an imminent EU summit to call for a lasting ceasefire. Even Japan – which is such a steadfast ally of USA – decided to vote in favour of the UAE resolution.

Why is the USA, and the Biden administration in particular, prepared to tarnish its global reputation as well as it national interests to protect an apartheid state like Israel? This is where the thesis that the ‘Israel lobby’ in the USA wields inordinate influence on the US political process becomes relevant. This lobby has used such influence on the USA body politic to skew American foreign policy in the Middle east in an unabashedly pro-Israeli direction, especially after 1967. Two leading American political scientists – Mearsheimer and Walt – proposed an evidence-based elaboration of this thesis in 2006 in a working paper which they subsequently expanded into a book. Their thesis has withstood the test of time and is especially relevant today. Unless the influence of the Israel lobby in the USA can be sharply restrained by countervailing forces, the tragedy of Gaza and of Palestinians at large will continue unabated and the UNSC will continue to be reduced to a hapless bystander by veto-wielding nations.

[The views expressed in this piece are strictly personal and do not represent the views of any institution that the author is associated with, either past or present]