For the first time in the history of the United Nations, a record number of countries supported a General Assembly resolution condemning Hamas — but the world body still failed to pass the resolution.
Today we spoke some hard truths. We can’t talk about peace in the Middle East until we can agree on a basic condemnation of Hamas and its terrorism. The UN had a chance to do that today, and it failed. pic.twitter.com/MF7DEtu2Ml
— US Mission to the UN (@USUN)
At the center of the American proposal, formulated together with Israel, was the condemnation of Hamas rocket fire and its use of civilian infrastructure for military purposes against Israel. Among the countries that supported the proposal were all the member states of the European Union, countries in Africa and Asia, and many others.
In the end, 87 countries voted in favor, but was not enough to meet the two-thirds requirement, so the proposal failed.
The two-thirds majority that prevented passage of the resolution was advanced by Kuwait on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, and approved by a 75-72 vote with 26 abstentions.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately thanked Israel’s friends in the United Nations General Assembly in a statement Thursday night.
“The draft condemnation of Hamas in the UN General Assembly received a sweeping majority by countries that stood against Hamas,” Netanyahu said.
“While it did not achieve a two-thirds majority, this is the first time that a majority of countries have voted against Hamas and I commend each of the 87 countries that took a principled stand against Hamas.
“This is a very important achievement for the U.S. and Israel. I thank the American administration and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley for the initiative.
“Israel had a simple majority.”
