(Jerusalem Post) Dore Gold - Every number of years, Israel's adversaries at the UN undertake an initiative whose clear intention is to undermine the very legitimacy of the State of Israel. The latest UN outrage with regard to Israel has been the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI), which was established by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council in May 2021. The Commission is permanent and thus is able to perpetually make allegations against Israel. An initial report by the COI made the charge that Israel was "largely to blame for the continuation" of its conflict with the Palestinians. There was no mention of Hamas. There is no basis for comparing the Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria with Russia's annexation of four regions in Ukraine. Israel moved into Judea and Samaria in a war of self-defense in 1967. Russia's operations in Ukraine were not in self-defense but rather a war of aggression. The great British authority on international law, Elihu Lauterpacht, drew the distinction between unlawful territorial change by an aggressor and lawful territorial change in response to an aggressor. The writer, President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, served as Director-General of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as Israel's Ambassador to the UN.
2022-11-07 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive