B'nai B'rith denounces UN's referral

(JNS) — B’nai B’rith International condemned the U.N. General Assembly’s request that the International Court of Justice issue a legal opinion concerning Israeli policies on Palestinian-claimed territories. The referral was endorsed by a UNGA committee in November and has now been rubber stamped by the assembly’s plenary.

“The UNGA—in which Palestinians enjoy an automatic majority, including the overwhelming share of nearly 60 Arab and Muslim governments—annually passes more condemnations of the Jewish state than all other 192 U.N. member states,” B’nai B’rith said in a statement.

The measure, passed in a 87-26 vote with 53 abstensions, accuses the Jewish state of adopting “discriminatory legislation and measures” and calls for an investigation into Israeli maneuvers “aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the U.N. request as “disgraceful,” while now-opposition leader Yair Lapid previously wrote a letter to more than 50 leaders calling on them to prevent the vote from taking place.

B’nai B’rith went on to condemn the resolution for its double standard, as well as for condemning the Jewish state before a judicial opinion has even been composed.

“The U.N. has failed to encourage censure and accountability for a single Palestinian misdeed. We must ask: Are no Palestinian actions, whether by the Palestinian Authority (called the State of Palestine by the U.N.) or Hamas and Islamic Jihad, deserving of greater scrutiny?” the statement asks.

The statement concluded by thanking all U.N. member states that refused to support the resolution.