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The Changing Anti-Israel UN Voting Patterns

(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - When diplomatic officials in Jerusalem recently surveyed the list of 21 countries that make up UNESCO's World Heritage Committee (WHC) in an effort to see who might soften the blow of yet another anti-Israel resolution, the list did not include any countries that Israel traditionally can count on for diplomatic assistance. Then Croatia and Tanzania stepped forward. Israel has good relations with Croatia. It is numbered among those former Soviet-bloc countries inside the EU which usually casts a ballot either with Israel or abstains. In Tanzania, a country that is about 60% Christian and 30% Muslim, President John Magufuli, elected last October, is a staunchly believing Christian and sees Israel as a natural ally. Since assuming office he has sent Israel strong signals of an interest in significantly upgrading ties. Tanzania's foreign minister was one of the seven African leaders Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at a summit in Uganda last July. According to diplomatic officials, Netanyahu spoke in recent days to both Magufuli and Croatian leaders. The two countries forced a secret vote on the resolution at the WHC meeting in Paris on Wednesday, infuriating the Palestinians and their supporters in the body who wanted to ram the resolution through by consensus. Instead of a consensus, the resolution passed by a vote of 10 to 2, with 8 abstentions. The number of countries that can be counted on to reflexively raise their hands in votes against Israel is shrinking. Five years ago, when then French President Nicolas Sarkozy led a successful push to have UNESCO accept "Palestine" as a full member state, then Israel Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP that the Palestinians would use their newfound status to "hijack" the organization as a vehicle for anti-Israel propaganda. The reason UNESCO has turned into one of the central battlegrounds against Israel has to do with the Palestinian status in that organization, where it is a full member state.
2016-10-31 00:00:00
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