New Zealand joins the bullies against Israel again at the UN

Many things changed in 2020 all around the world. However, the disproportionate attack on Israel at the United Nations continued.

There were 17 resolutions passed by the General Assembly that singled out the Jewish state, while only 8 other countries were mentioned in 7 other resolutions. Those countries were Iran, Syria, North Korea, Myanmar, the U.S. (for its embargo on Cuba), and Crimea. There were no resolutions that singled out China, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Turkey, Pakistan, Vietnam, Algeria, or any of the other 175 member countries.

And New Zealand participated as enthusiastically as in previous years in condemning Israel so disproportionately, presumably under the same flawed advice MFAT has provided for years.

In the past five years there have been almost 100 resolutions against Israel in the general assembly and New Zealand has not found it appropriate to vote against any of them.

Despite MFAT acknowledging that one of the resolutions – and apparently only one of them – “has lacked balance in that it focuses exclusively on Israeli actions”, there seems no political will to vote against the anti-Israel bias at the United Nations.

This is in sharp contrast to our traditional allies and five-eyes partners. According to the UN Watch database Australia has voted against 37% of the resolutions, the United Kingdom has voted against 3%, the United States has voted against 87% of them, and Canada has voted against 80% of the anti-Israel resolutions.

The latter two countries have only voted for 5% and 6%, respectively, of the 98 anti-Israel resolutions over the past 5 years; compared to New Zealand voting for 80% of them. New Zealand has also voted for more anti-Israel resolutions than 19 of the 27 EU member states and only Cyprus and Malta have been worse than New Zealand.

As well as voting against the biased anti-Israel resolutions, The United States also took the floor to explain why they voted against one in particular, stating

“As previously noted, the United States is disappointed that this body has again taken up this unbalanced resolution that is unfairly critical of Israel, demonstrating a clear and persistent institutional bias directed at one member state. This one-sided approach only undermines trust between the parties and fails to create the kind of positive international environment critical to achieving peace.

The United States will once again vote against this one-sided resolution and encourages other nations to also do so. The United States will continue to oppose every effort to delegitimize Israel, and we hope other members will join us by voting “no” on this resolution.”Jesse Walter, Advisor for Economic and Social Affairs, U.S. Mission to the United Nations

New Zealand officials ignored this and voted for that resolution. Once again New Zealand has voted more like Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela than Australia, the United States, or Canada.

However, this year has been different. More than 1,250 people signed a petition calling on Foreign Minister Mahuta to end New Zealand’s support at the United Nations for disproportionate and one-sided resolutions that single out Israel for differential and discriminatory treatment.

Whether Hon Nanaia Mahuta listens to the people, if she reflects on what is right, or if she continues to unquestioningly take the flawed MFAT advice will only be seen next year when the bullies at the UN will be out for Israel again.

Please consider helping us raise awareness of these issues and engage with our country’s leaders by joining us at https://israelinstitute.nz/join-iinz/.