Shalom all,

Due to a late arrival home today and a desire to get this out before midnight, most of the items that I had originally intended to comment on will not be discussed today. But, there is one of considerable interest and importance.

The United Nations was due to vote on a brief draft Resolution on yesterday (Friday), but the vote was delayed for several hours at the request of the United Arab Emirates, who drafted the proposed Resolution. On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is also the former Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, and a member of the Portuguese Socialist Party, who has long called for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza War, called for a special meeting of the UN Security Council in an effort to invoke Article 99 of the UN Charter. The action taken by Guterres is extraordinary, as he sought a Security Council Resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire of the war. The requested delay until 3:00 p.m. New York time, was to allow for a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken and ministers from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the “Palestinian” Authority and Turkey – obviously. with the goal of trying to get the U.S. to abstain from the vote. Of those six ministers mentioned (of five States – the “Palestinian” Authority is not a State), only two (Egypt and Jordan) have peace treaties with Israel, whose representative was not invited to participate in that meeting. Although the vote, originally scheduled for early Friday morning, was delayed, the Security Council nevertheless convened for a briefing by Guterres, whose comments include: “I urge the council to spare no effort to push for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, for the protection of civilians, and for the urgent delivery of lifesaving aid.”

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, pointed out that there already was a ceasefire and that it was broken by Hamas on October 7th. He added: “The irony is that regional stability and the security of both Israelis and Gazans can only be achieved once Hamas is eliminated, not one minute before…So the true path to ensure peace is only through supporting Israel’s mission – absolutely not to call for a ceasefire.”

The text of the Resolution, which originally made no reference to condemning the Hamas attacks, was amended to add that both “the Palestinian and Israeli civilian populations must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law”, as well to “demand the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”

Jordan’s Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, commented before the vote that if the Security Council fails to adopt the resolution, it would be “giving Israel a license to continue with its massacre of Palestinians in Gaza.” As noted, Jordan has a peace treaty with Israel, but has repeatedly condemned Israel’s efforts at self defense, which includes the destruction of Hamas and other terrorist entities in the Gaza Strip. It also fails to see the opposite side of the coin, namely, that if the Security Council did adopt a Resolution calling for an immediately ceasefire, it would, in terms similar to Safari’s statement, “give a license to Israel’s enemies to continue with its massacre of Israelis wherever they made be found.”

The Dry Bones Blog <blog@mrdrybones.com> – 8 December, 2023

At least nine votes needed to be cast in favor of the Resolution, which can be vetoed by any one of the five permanent members of the Security Council: the United States, Russia, China, France or Britain.

At the time of the vote, Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, exercised the veto power of the United States and informed the Security Council: “While the United States strongly supports a durable peace, in which both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security, we do not support calls for an immediate ceasefire…This would only plant the seeds for the next war because Hamas has no desire to see a durable peace.” He added: “Unfortunately, nearly all of our recommendations were ignored” leading to an “imbalanced resolution that was divorced from reality that would not move the needle forward on the ground in any concrete way. And so, we regretfully could not support it.“ (see at 3:53 p.m.)

In response to the decision of the Security Council that rejected the Resolution, and in remarks reflecting a clear allusion to the Festival of Hanukkah, Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, stated: “A little light rejected a lot of darkness…It is shocking that when Hamas is firing rockets at Gush Dan from population centers in southern Gaza, the UN is busy with a disconnected deliberation about a distorted resolution that is directed at the wrong side and does not even condemn Hamas…A ceasefire is possible, only with the return of all the hostages and destruction of Hamas.”

We need to give credit where and when credit is due. We may not always agree with the actions and decisions of the United States, as they relate to the present Israel-Gaza War, and we certainly are not happy with the pressures that Uncle Sam exerts on Israel. But, in this instance, the U.S. showed itself to be a true friend of Israel, understanding the real issues and the absolute imperative to continue this war until all of its goals are achieved. May that be soon.

That’s it for now. Time for Shabbat rest.

Bless, be blessed and be a blessing.
Marvin