The United States has once again used its veto power to block a UN Security Council resolution on the current conflict. A position that translates into Washington’s unconditional support for Israel for more than half a century.
The United States has once again used its veto power to block a UN Security Council resolution on the current conflict. A position that translates into Washington’s unconditional support for Israel for more than half a century.
On October 18, the United States again blocked the resolution of the United Nations on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
What does the resolution see?
The text presented by Brazil criticized at the same time the “hateful” attacks by Hamas and “the violence against civilians carried out by the Israeli army in Gaza.”
He proposed “humanitarian pauses” to allow aid to reach the enclave’s residents. But the United States vetoed the text, arguing that it did not mention Israel’s “right to self-defense” and pointed to the desire to privilege “land diplomacy.” Some European representatives regretted the veto.
“This is a lost opportunity. The draft resolution is not dangerous for Israel: it only calls for the opening of humanitarian corridors, without condemning Israel’s colonization.” Two days later, another resolution presented by Russia was also vetoed by the United States, the United Kingdom and France because it did not condemn the attack by Hamas.
In the Security Council, to be approved, a resolution needs nine favorable votes from the 15 members that make it up. However, its five permanent members (the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China and Russia) have the right of veto where they can block any resolution.
The United States does not always block resolutions critical of Israel. For example, he voted in favor of resolution 242, which called for the withdrawal of the Israeli army after the Six-Day War (1967), or resolution 338, which called for a ceasefire in the Yom Kippur War (1973).
Sometimes they abstained and could not prevent the adoption of a critical resolution such as 2334, which during Obama’s presidency condemned Israel’s colonization of the West Bank.
During Trump’s presidency, Washington also blocked two critical resolutions on Israel.
Russia and China also used this right when on October 25 they vetoed a United States resolution calling for humanitarian freezes, while recognizing Israel’s right to “defend itself against Hamas.”
