The White House, clearly, is watching once-steady constituencies slide away, expressing doubts about administration policy.
But not everything is about Michigan.
The current one-step, two-step on Gaza and Israel in the United Nations is about the Biden administration’s world view. China and Russia vetoed the U.S. sponsored Security Council Resolution on Gaza precisely as the State Department planned. The U.S. had put two “poison pills” in it: condemnation of Hamas for its crimes against Israel, and linkage between a ceasefire and release of Hamas’ Israeli hostages, some of whom are American citizens.
After mild criticism of Russia and China, the U.S. sat back while a resolution was put forward by the non-permanent members on Monday. The new version called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and contained no condemnation of Hamas. To the extent that hostages are mentioned, negotiations for their release would come after the ceasefire. The U.S. kept its veto in its pocket and abstained.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters after the vote: “Our vote does not, and I repeat, does not, represent a shift in our policy.”
Oh, yes it does. And it doesn’t.
The fact that the U.S. took Israel to the Security Council to demand compliance is itself a huge shift in policy. The UN’s list of egregious condemnations of
Israel and support for terrorists that attack Israel is well-known.
Furthermore, the U.S. abstention is a change. There is no coupling of countries on the Security Council with which Israel could work to create a secure situation in Gaza for itself or for Palestinian civilians – which requires removing Hamas. The non-permanent members are too small, too far away, uninvolved in the region, or hostile. Two of the five permanent members – Russia and China – are on Iran’s side; the United Kingdom has taken a virulently anti-Israel position, likely based on domestic considerations; and France, well, France.
The only consistent protection Israel had from the broadly anti-Zionist, antisemitic, anti-Western, anti-American, anti-democratic United Nations was the United States. Until now.
So, Adm. Kirby is wrong. But, in another way, he is correct.
As Hamas leader Ismayil Haniyeh popped off from his haven in Qatar for his second visit to Iran since 10/7, the abstention should be understood in the context of Biden administration policy toward the mullah regime in Iran beginning in 2021.
There aren’t enough votes in any state in the Union to produce this list.
Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of the Jewish Policy Center and Editor of inFOCUS Quarterly magazine.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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