Emboldent with a possible Biden presidency, A United Nations General Assembly committee on Wednesday adopted a resolution that referred to Jerusalem's Temple Mount solely by its Muslim name of Haram al-Sharif, the UN Watch NGO reported.
The Temple Mount resolution was one of seven resolutions passed by the General Assembly that single out or condemn Israel, with zero on the entire rest of the world.
One of the other texts approved on Wednesday condemns Israel for "repressive measures" against Syrian citizens in the Golan Heights, another renews the mandate of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), while another renews the mandate of the UN's "special committee to investigate Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the Occupied Territories."
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, presented arguments against the anti-Israel resolutions, calling them outdated and maintaining they do nothing but perpetuate the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In his remarks, Erdan highlighted why the UN has continually failed to solve the conflict.
“One of the biggest reasons for the UN’s failure in ending the conflict is its continued support of UNRWA,” he said. “Simply put, UNRWA’s very existence makes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict unsolvable, and I don’t intend to allow business as usual anymore.”
Erdan pointed out how UNRWA uses its schools to spread hatred and antisemitism, inciting Palestinian children to violence, promoting terrorism and questioning Israel’s right to exist.
The Israeli Ambassador also criticized the UN’s refusal to refer to Judaism’s holiest site as the Temple Mount, saying that by using only the sacred esplanade’s Islamic name was an “audacious attempt to rewrite history” and erase the centuries old Jewish connection to Jerusalem.
“As Minister of Public Security, I ensured that all religions had access to Jerusalem’s holy sites,” said Erdan. “During my term, the number of Jews visiting the Temple Mount each year more than tripled. No resolution passed here will stop that process. No resolution passed here will change the eternal connection between the Jewish people and the holiest site of our faith – the Temple Mount.”
Erdan pushed committee members to reconsider their blind support of these annual resolutions.
“What is the point of these resolutions? Just to pave the way for future resolutions?” he asked. “By supporting these resolutions you are not only wasting UN resources, you are also sabotaging any changes of future peace.”
Israel’s mission to the UN noted that Every year, the General Assembly adopts a package of about 20 anti-Israel resolutions, including renewing the mandate of biased Palestinian committees. Israel views this as part of a diplomatic effort led by the Palestinians to undermine its legitimacy.
The UN’s anti-Israel bias is well-documented. Three years ago, its cultural body UNESCO approved a series of resolutions denying the Jewish connection to Jerusalem.
Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon several times admitted the UN’s anti-Israel bias, the first time being during a 2013 session with Israeli students.
Just before he stepped down from his role in 2016, Ban admitted that the UN has a "disproportionate volume of resolutions, reports and conferences criticizing Israel" and that "in many cases, rather than helping the Palestinian cause, this reality has hampered the ability of the UN to fulfill its role effectively."
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