The 'Palestinians' try to make up for a loss
But on Thursday I have another travel day - heading back to Israel for the Sabbath. It has the distinct advantage of shortening Thursday's fast for me to about seven hours (I'll be heading eastbound). But I have to be up awfully early....
The 'Palestinians' have also had a busy week. On Tuesday, they lost their 'statehood' vote in the United Nations Security Council. It took a lot of pressure from the United States, and a lot of courage by two African nations on the Security Council to make it happen, but the 'Palestinians' lost again.
"The US had a very significant role," said a high-ranking official at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. "Not only were they willing to veto, they also worked side-by-side with Israeli diplomats in order to prevent support for the decision within the Security Council. It's not that they just said they would vote against it. They worked. There were phone calls and messages. The American diplomatic effort is noteworthy."
Apart from the critical help from Washington, the results of the Security Council vote are also a testament of the diplomatic achievements made by the Foreign Ministry headed by Avigdor Lieberman, who marked Africa as a target for diplomatic efforts. The African nations proved themselves loyal during the moment of truth with the support of Rwanda and Nigeria.
Representing the Netanyahu government, Lieberman set out on a trip that began in September of 2009 in which he visited Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda. In June 2014, Lieberman returned to Africa and visited Rwanda, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Kenya.
Visits of by an Israeli diplomat of this stature to Africa have not been seen since the days of Golda Meir as foreign minister. During her tenure, Israel had 27 representatives in Africa compared to the 10 that exist today. The wide-ranging investments Israel has made in African aid, along with the Israeli business that operate in the continent, proved to be very worthwhile.
They key nation was without a doubt Nigeria.Read the whole thing. It's a fascinating piece. I'd love to hear more about South Korea - not a surprising vote given our economic ties there. And please don't visit France....
The African nation was the ninth country that was supposed to give the Palestinians the necessary majority in the UN Security Council. In the end, it became the nation that swayed from Palestinian support to abstention and by doing so enabled the prevention of the unilateral Palestinian resolution to pass.
High-ranking officials within the Foreign Ministry had already come to terms with the fact that Nigeria would give Palestinian the ninth vote majority and that the US would then use its veto. But the events played out surprisingly different.
The 'Palestinians' are trying to make up for their loss by joining the International Criminal Court. That may not have been so smart either.
Earlier this year the PA signed onto 15 international treaties and was immediately in violation of 11 of them. The PA subsequently was, ironically, accepted into convention against corruption. The European Court of Auditors is starting to investigate charges of PA corruption.
Earlier this year a former prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, warned the PA that joining the ICC could put the PA in legal jeopardy on account of its unity government with Hamas, a terrorist organization. An Israeli NGO, Shurat Hadin, The Israel Law Center, last month petitioned the ICC to investigate Abbas for war crimes. Though the PA was not, at that time, a signatory to the Rome Statute, Abbas is a citizen of Jordan, which is.The 'Palestinians' seem to have as many moves as OJ Simpson. Here's hoping they end up like him.
Labels: International Criminal Court, Nigeria, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, United Nations Security Council
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:56 AM
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