A series of resolutions pushed by the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday at the United Nations garnered less support than usual, perhaps indicating that the international body may be starting to shake off its bias against the Jewish state.
The resolutions were drafted by the U.N. General Assembly’s Palestinian Rights Committee, dedicated to promoting the Palestinian narrative with regards to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
While such resolutions usually see broad support in the international forum, this year they were opposed by Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Switzerland and Papua New Guinea, as well as other countries that in previous years had abstained.
Iceland, Singapore, Eritrea and Uruguay, which in the past voted in favor of such resolutions, chose to abstain this time.
In addition, there was also a decline in the support for a resolution condemning Israeli presence in the Golan Heights. A resolution focusing on setting parameters for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict also proved less popular than in the past.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan expressed his appreciation for Israel’s supporters, saying, “This sends a clear message to the U.N. [regarding] its discrimination [against] Israel. No other country in the world is discriminated against in international bodies as Israel is. It is time for more countries to join our struggle to change the anti-Israel agenda at the U.N.”
Erdan stressed that the resolutions’ passing “changes nothing on the ground. All it does is perpetuate Palestinian rejectionism and their illusions.”
He continued: “If anything, these resolutions reflect the fact that the U.N. is detached from reality. Every year the [U.N. member] states repeat the same old slogans touted by the Palestinians and vote for the same resolutions despite the fact they are detached from reality, thus proving that they want to appease the Palestinians more than they want to resolve the conflict.”
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
