Israeli impunity in Gaza: US support counters growing global censure

The overwhelming vote at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly last week in support of a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine without the involvement of Hamas has set a fresh marker of global condemnation of Israel’s assault in Gaza. The New York Resolution, moved by France, was endorsed by 142 votes, with 10 against (including the United States and Israel) and 12 abstentions. It comes ahead of the UN summit, scheduled for September 22, and is expected to preface recognition of the Palestinian state by American allies France, Canada, Australia, Belgium, and Portugal. The United Kingdom has confirmed that it will recognise Palestine after United States (US) President Donald Trump’s state visit. Germany, with its complicated history with Israel, has endorsed the New York resolution but will not support Palestinian statehood. 

The irony of this flurry of international condemnation, including from India and the Abraham Accord signatories, is that it has not deterred Israel or its sponsor, the US. Even after Israeli Defense Forces conducted an airstrike on Qatari capital Doha, targeting the Hamas leadership, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Binyamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem for talks to cement the countries’ alliance. Meanwhile, the Israeli assault on Gaza City continues unabated, displacing thousands of Palestinians, even as Israel’s illegal expansion of settlements in the West Bank stays the course. Meanwhile, the much-anticipated meeting of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to support Qatar following the Israeli strike ended with an anodyne statement of criticism. In fact, the Qatari leadership, chief interlocutor for the Israel-Hamas peace negotiations and host to the largest US military bases in the region, has held talks with Mr Rubio for an enhanced defence cooperation agreement. 

All of this reflects current global geoeconomic realpolitik. In the 1970s, the Arab nations could wield real economic power by imposing an oil embargo in response to US support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Today, the US is self-sufficient in oil, the sole global hegemon, and the world’s largest arms supplier. The US accounts for about 70 per cent of Israel’s arms import. It also accounts for 50-70 per cent of arms import by Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates — states that have also borne the brunt of Palestinian refugees. Just as Washington’s long equivocation over the apartheid regime in South Africa in the interests of obtaining uranium supplies had helped sustain a racist establishment for four decades, staunch American bipartisan support — which is admittedly fraying — has enabled Israel to inflict human rights abuses on Palestinians with impunity for seven decades. 

The suggestion that Israel may change its policies if the US were to halt or scale back military aid is open to doubt. Growing radicalisation of Israelis under Mr Netanyahu’s long leadership is likely to ensure its continuance. But the vortex of global condemnation suggests that without a realistic policy of co-existence, Israel may not enjoy a lasting peace in the land it claimed for itself.