The News
The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution Wednesday that demands Israel withdraw from the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank within 12 months. Some 124 members voted in favor, with 14 voting against, including the US, and dozens abstaining.
The resolution is the first to be put forward by the Palestinian Authority since it gained a seat among UN members in the assembly hall this month. The Palestinian UN ambassador called the vote a turning point in the “struggle for freedom and justice,” meanwhile the Israeli ambassador described it as “diplomatic terrorism.”
SIGNALS
Israel becomes more isolated on the world stage
The resolution, though not legally enforceable, is symbolic of the growing global pressure on Israel to reach a ceasefire and hostage return deal in Gaza. The consensus also reinforces Israel’s isolation on the international stage and demonstrates a desire to ratify the power of the International Criminal Court, on whose advisory the Palestinian-drafted resolution was based. The EU said in a statement that the UN General Assembly had “forcibly reaffirmed its commitment” to Palestinian self-determination.
The US keeps up its defense of Israel
The United States’ UN ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, opposed the resolution, arguing that it undermined the two-state solution and failed to address Hamas’ role in the conflict in Gaza. The US is Israel’s most powerful international ally but has come under increasing pressure from other nations to oppose Israel’s deadly offensive in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack. The vote’s passage, The Economist argued, signaled the US’ “weakening clout” over the UN, even as it remains its biggest financial contributor, suggesting that the Americans “stretched by multiple crises” — domestically and internationally — are losing their diplomatic “supremacy.” The outlet argued that resolution or not, Israel was unlikely to be dissuaded from continuing its military offensive in Gaza and the West Bank.