{"id":93511,"date":"2017-06-12T12:01:32","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T11:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=93511"},"modified":"2017-06-09T12:02:23","modified_gmt":"2017-06-09T11:02:23","slug":"inside-the-us-fight-to-fix-israels-global-standing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/06\/inside-the-us-fight-to-fix-israels-global-standing\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the US Fight to Fix Israel\u2019s Global Standing"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. and Israel lead a campaign of intimidation against the UN to forcibly rehabilitate Israel\u2019s international standing.<\/em><\/p>\n

8 Jun 2017 – <\/em>The Trump administration is using unprecedented threats and financial \u201cblackmail\u201d against the United Nations and its agencies to end their focus on human rights abuses by Israel, according to analysts and Palestinian leaders.<\/p>\n

They accuse the United States of joining Israel in a campaign of intimidation against the UN secretariat and member states to forcibly rehabilitate Israel\u2019s international standing.<\/p>\n

The offensive comes after the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu had faced several years of criticism in diplomatic circles for refusing to engage in a peace process with the Palestinians.<\/p>\n

An early indication of the new campaign\u2019s success, analysts noted, was the election last week of Danny Danon as a vice-president of the UN\u2019s main representative forum, the General Assembly.<\/p>\n

Danon has been Israel\u2019s ambassador to the UN since 2015.<\/p>\n

He is known as an arch-opponent of the two-state solution and, before heading to the UN in New York, had repeatedly called for Israel to annex most of the West Bank.<\/p>\n

US \u2018attorney\u2019\u00a0for Israel\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is views like Danon\u2019s, which are increasingly dominant inside the Israeli government, that have driven a swelling boycott movement, as well as increasing comparisons between Israel and apartheid South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe US and Israel are now jointly engaged in \u2018street fighting\u2019 at the UN,\u201d a Western diplomat, who wished to remain anonymous, told Al Jazeera. \u201cWashington is throwing its weight around and bullying people. The old rules of diplomacy have been thrown out of the window.\u201d<\/p>\n

That view was confirmed by Hanan Ashrawi, a former Palestinian negotiator and member of the PLO Executive Committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trump administration has become a very vocal and aggressive attorney for Israel,\u201d she told Al Jazeera. \u201cIt threatens consequences for anyone seen to be supporting the Palestinians or criticising Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Danon will take up his new post in September, chairing sessions of the General Assembly, helping to set its agenda and overseeing enforcement of rules and decorum during its meetings.<\/p>\n

New sheriff in town<\/strong><\/p>\n

The increasingly overt alliance between Israel and the US at the UN was highlighted this week when Danon escorted Nikki Haley, Trump\u2019s envoy to the UN, on a visit to Israel.<\/p>\n

In a speech to the US pro-Israeli lobby group AIPAC in March, Haley promised to be \u201ca new sheriff in town\u201d at the UN.<\/p>\n

On the way to Israel, Haley stopped in Geneva to berate one of the UN\u2019s chief agencies, the Human Rights Council (UNHRC), for what she termed its \u201cchronic anti-Israel bias\u201d. Its behaviour \u201cmakes a mockery not of Israel, but of the Council itself,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

She threatened that the US would pull out of the UNHRC if it did not rein in its criticism.<\/p>\n

In April, Haley issued a similar warning when she took over the rotating presidency of the UN\u2019s most powerful body, the Security Council. She told members that their monthly Middle East debates would now focus on Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah, not Israel.<\/p>\n

Apartheid report retracted<\/strong><\/p>\n

Israel and the White House have been leaning on other key UN agencies.<\/p>\n

In March, the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia was forced to retract an expert report after it concluded that Israel had established an apartheid regime ruling over the Palestinians.<\/p>\n

And last month the US condemned a resolution by the UN\u2019s cultural agency, UNESCO, after it called on Israel to uphold international law and end policies that were changing the religious and cultural character of occupied East Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

Although the resolution passed, most European countries either abstained or voted against it. Afterwards, Netanyahu crowed: \u201cThe number of countries who support this absurd UNESCO resolution is getting smaller.\u201d<\/p>\n

Threat to UN budget<\/strong><\/p>\n

All this has been occurring against the drumbeat of threats from the Trump administration that it is ready to impose drastic cuts to the UN budget. Washington is the UN\u2019s biggest contributor, covering nearly $13.5bn of the world body\u2019s funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main factor behind Danon\u2019s promotion is blackmail by the Trump administration,\u201d said Ashrawi. \u201cIt is threatening to withhold UN funding and it is clear member states are scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nathan Thrall, author of a new book on Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy, The Only Language They Understand, said the campaign had forced the Palestinians to back off from diplomatic initiatives at the UN.<\/p>\n

Over the past seven years, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas placed an emphasis on the struggle to win recognition of Palestinian statehood at the UN. That included joining a UN agency, UNESCO, in 2011. The US responded by suspending its UNESCO\u2019s funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Palestinians are afraid what Trump might do,\u201d Thrall told Al Jazeera. \u201cIf the US starts making global institutions collapse, the Palestinian leadership are worried they will get the blame from other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peacekeeping operations and humanitarian assistance would be among the UN operations expected to suffer. \u201cThe Palestinians don\u2019t want to lose friends when they need them most,\u201d added Thrall.<\/p>\n

Right\u2019s enfant terrible<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Danon, aged 46, was selected for the role of General Assembly vice-president by a regional faction at the UN known as the Western European and Others Group. It includes most European countries, plus Israel, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

The election of vice-presidents is organised on a regional basis to ensure fair geographical representation.<\/p>\n

Salah Bardawil, a senior Hamas official, tweeted that Danon\u2019s elevation was \u201ca mark of Cain on the UN\u2019s forehead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel has been the subject of dozens of resolutions condemning its violations of the UN charter \u2013 far more than any other member state. But in particular, the choice of Danon has disturbed Palestinian leaders. Until recently, his was widely seen as the enfant terrible<\/em> of the Israeli right.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu sacked Danon from his post as deputy defence minister in summer 2014, during Israel\u2019s attack on Gaza, in which some 500 Palestinian children were killed. He called Danon \u201cirresponsible\u201d for describing Israel\u2019s military operation as too lenient.<\/p>\n

Salam Fayyad blocked<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Netanyahu announced Danon\u2019s posting as ambassador a year later, Israeli analysts described the decision as a \u201ccruel joke\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ashrawi noted that Danon\u2019s treatment at the UN contrasted strongly with that of Salam Fayyad, the former Palestinian prime minister.<\/p>\n

Efforts by the US Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to appoint Fayyad, a Palestinian moderate, as the UN envoy to Libya were blocked by the US in February. Haley described the move as against Israel and added: \u201cThe United States will act, not just talk, in support of our allies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even before Trump, there were signs that Israel\u2019s fortunes at the UN were changing.<\/p>\n

Last year, Danon made history becoming the first Israeli ambassador to chair a permanent committee \u2013 dealing, paradoxically, with international law, the subject on which Israel has faced most criticism. Again, Danon received the backing of the Western European and Others Group.<\/p>\n

However, Danon\u2019s relations with the previous US administration were strained. In late 2012 he accused President Barack Obama of being \u201cno friend of Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n

Security Council seat?<\/strong><\/p>\n

By contrast, Danon has been enthusiastically embraced by the Trump administration, observed Thrall.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael is doing well diplomatically, at the moment. There are rumours that it aspires to a seat in the Security Council. The climate is such that some Israeli politicians even seem to think that might be achievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interviewed by the settlers\u2019 news agency Arutz Sheva last month, Danon said there was a \u201cnew spirit\u201d at the UN. \u201cThey no longer focus only on Israel. The UN is no longer the Palestinian playground. Something is changing here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of his relationship with Haley, he told the Orthodox Jewish magazine Mishpacha in April: \u201cWhen it comes to Israel, we share the same views.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making new friends\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although the world body has been viewed as traditionally hostile to Israel, experts have cited several factors that explain Israel\u2019s changing fortunes.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Israel has made strategic alliances with powerful states at the UN, in addition to its main ally in Washington. Israel has won favour often through arms sales and intelligence sharing.<\/p>\n

The diplomat, who has worked in Israel, said: \u201cIsrael has been reaching out to emerging economies in BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] as well as Mexico. That is starting to pay a diplomatic dividend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, Europe, which is in growing disarray, has abandoned even the pretence of acting as a counterweight to Washington. That has made it easier to win over European countries to Israel\u2019s side.<\/p>\n

Thrall noted: \u201cThe apparent calculus in countries like the UK is that the best way to ingratiate themselves with the US is to be good to Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the UN, mired in financial difficulties, is reeling from the threat of further penalties from the US and its allies if it continues to be seen as anti-Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael and the US are ready to break the international order to get their way,\u201d said the diplomat. \u201cPeople are scared of what they might be capable of doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

____________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Jonathan Cook is an award-winning British journalist based in Nazareth, Israel, since 2001. He is the author of: <\/em>Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish State (2006); <\/em>Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East (2008); and <\/em>Disappearing Palestine: Israel\u2019s Experiments in Human Despair (2008). In 2011 he was awarded the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize<\/a> for Journalism.<\/em> The same year, Project Censored<\/a> voted one of Jonathan\u2019s reports, \u201cIsrael brings Gaza entry restrictions to West Bank\u201d, the ninth most important story censored in 2009-10.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 jonathan-cook.net<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Join the BDS-BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS <\/em>campaign<\/em><\/strong><\/span> to protest the Israeli barbaric siege of Gaza, illegal occupation of the Palestine nation\u2019s territory, the apartheid wall, its inhuman and degrading treatment of the Palestinian people, and the more than 7,000 Palestinian men, women, elderly and children arbitrarily locked up in Israeli prisons.<\/p>\n

DON’T BUY<\/strong> PRODUCTS WHOSE<\/strong> BARCODE<\/strong> STARTS WITH<\/strong> 729<\/strong>, which indicates that it is produced in Israel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 DO YOUR PART! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

7 2 9: BOYCOTT FOR JUSTICE!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. and Israel lead a campaign of intimidation against the UN to forcibly rehabilitate Israel\u2019s international standing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-focus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93511\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}