Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan welcomed the drop in support for the annual batch of anti-Israel resolutions submitted Wednesday to the General Assembly at the request of the Palestinians.
Following an intense diplomatic effort by Israel worldwide, several countries changed their voting patterns on the resolutions, known as the “Palestinian package,” causing an increase in the number of countries opposing some of them entirely.
“I would like to thank the countries that changed their voting pattern in favor of Israel. They have voted against the systematic anti-Israel bias at the UN,” said Erdan. “I also would like to extend special thanks to the countries that stand by Israel’s side each year in opposing these despicable resolutions."
“No other country in the world faces such discrimination in the UN and it is time for more UN members to join us in changing this organization’s anti-Israel agenda," he said. “The countries that supported Israel today have understood that this package of resolutions does nothing to forward peace but serves only to entrench the Palestinian’s rejectionist position and deepen the conflict.”
Germany, Austria and Bulgaria were among the countries that switched from abstaining to opposing some of the resolutions. Slovenia, Switzerland and Papua New Guinea moved from abstaining to voting against the resolution on the Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat, while Singapore, Eritrea and Uruguay moved from voting in favor to abstention.
In another resolution dealing with the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which produces reports and activities reflecting only the Palestinian narrative, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany and Papua New Guinea moved from abstention to voting against, and Uruguay and Iceland moved from voting in favor to abstaining.
In his remarks at the General Assembly prior to the vote, Ambassador Erdan said, “For decades, this assembly has met to discuss the so-called question of Palestine. Yet every year, the discussion produces no realistic solutions and no useful changes to the situation. To any outside listener, it is clear why the answers to this question remain forever elusive: these yearly debates are completely detached from reality.”
Erdan pointed out that this year’s resolutions failed to refer to the groundbreaking Abraham Accords peace agreements signed between Israel and three Arab states: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.
“Can this forum be any more detached from the real world?” Erdan asked. “For years, the Palestinians have held the interests of the Arab world hostage while the international community has cynically voted in favor of its resolutions. Arab countries were forbidden from recognizing Israel's existence and banned from having relations with us unless we surrendered to the Palestinians outrageous demands. Thankfully, the Abraham Accords have shattered that paradigm.”