United Nations: Day of the Jackals

In 1981 a senator and former American ambassador to the United Nations, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, wrote a piece in Commentary magazine called “Joining the Jackals.” In it, the Democratic sage laid President Reagan’s defeat of President Carter to a March 1980 event, in which Carter’s envoy at Turtle Bay, Donald F. McHenry, “voted in favor of a particularly vicious anti-Israel resolution in the Security Council of the United Nations.”Moynihan’s coinage — the “jackals” — was adopted by Republican ambassadors like John Bolton and Nikki Haley. Upon entering the doors of Turtle Bay, they vowed to proudly veto any one-sided anti-Israel resolution. Indeed, even our ambassador today, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who is much more bullish on the UN than these predecessors, was forced to veto a resolution that was supported by 13 of the council’s 15 members.* That is the good news. Yet, unlike Mr. Bolton, Mrs. Haley, and others, Ms. Thomas-Greenfield vowed that with a few textual changes America would consider joining Turtle Bay’s anti-Israel gang. As reporters beseeched the ambassador to repent for refusing to back an Algerian-proposed demand for an unconditional, immediate cease-fire, she retorted defiantly, “We are pressing the Israelis urgently, every single day.”The way the American counter-offer differs from the Algerian proposal is that to get a cease-fire, it urges Hamas to release all hostages. Yet, after long pressuring Israel for “humanitarian pauses,” America now uses the UN-preferred “cease-fire” formulation. Worse, the proposed new resolution would stop Israel from entering Rafah, where the remaining organized Hamas fighting battalions are holed up, as could be many of the hostages. As our Benny Avni reports, the proposed American resolution undermines a war strategy devised by Israel’s wartime unity government. Under American pressure, the Israeli army is preparing plans to remove Rafah civilians to camps north of the city. Yet, it refuses to leave Hamas in control of the last city it holds. As Israel’s envoy to the UN, Gilad Erdan, asked today, why is the UN “fixated on ensuring that these monsters remain in power?”After backing Israel in the aftermath of October 7, that question can now increasingly be asked of President Biden. Fitting in with a so-called international community is clearly part of the explanation. Ganging up on Israel is in the UN’s DNA. Mrs. Haley cited that deficiency when she cut funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency. Yet on assuming office, Mr. Biden promptly renewed tax-payer funding for Unrwa — $1 billion in three years. According to new data released by Israel today, of the 12,000 Unrwa employees in Gaza, 440 are active in the military wing of Hamas. Some 2,000 others are registered as Hamas operatives, and 7,000 have a first relative who is a member of Hamas. When such data initially emerged Mr. Biden announced the suspension of Unrwa funding. Now it turns out that the suspension applies only to future funds, and that indirect contributions would be exempt. In President Obama’s final days in office, America declined to veto a Security Council resolution that declared Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, an “occupied territory.” His erstwhile vice president is now reprising that kind of mind-meld with UN sensibilities. Unlike in The Great Moynihan’s day, abandoning Israel may not hurt re-election. It might even help him in Michigan. Yet we miss the days when America was a global lion, rather than one of the jackals. ________*Britain abstained.

United Nations: Day of the Jackals

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