Israel’s relationship with the United Nations has been turbulent
to say the least. In 1947 the UN General
Assembly (GA) passed resolution 181 dividing what had been the British mandate
of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state. At that point the new
international body was a hero for the Jewish people, granting international legitimacy
to the notion of a Jewish state in Eretz Yisrael.
However, the GA is entirely a reflection of its members –
the nations of the world. If in 1947
those countries were well-disposed towards Zionist aspirations, it did not set
a precedent. The Soviet Union, which was the first country to voice support for
the partition plan, would, within a decade of that vote, have thrown its
support behind the Arab states committed to Israel’s destruction. Before long, the Soviet bloc and the Arab and
Muslim world could command an automatic anti-Israel majority in the GA. The nadir was reached in 1975 when resolution
3379 was passed, equating Zionism with racism.
Although the resolution was rescinded in 1991 (against the backdrop of
the USSR’s collapse and an Arab world courting American approval) it would
serve as a warning of what was to follow. In the years since, Israel has been
subjected to more condemnatory GA resolutions than any other country; while
there has never been a single GA resolution condemning any act of violence or
aggression by any Arab state or terror organization against Israel.
