Israel slams latest UN vote on Palestine as ‘moral decay’ of the multilateral world body

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday approved a resolution that asked the International Court of Justice to opine upon the Israel-Palestine conflict and the legal status of the territories administered by the two sides.The Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan slammed the resolution calling it a "moral stain" on the multilateral body.

"No international body can decide that the Jewish people are ‘occupiers’ in their own homeland. Any decision from a judicial body which receives its mandate from the morally bankrupt and politicised UN is completely illegitimate," Erdan said in a Friday statement.

"The Palestinians have rejected every peace initiative while supporting and inciting terror. Instead of pushing the Palestinians to change, the UN is doing the opposite: helping them to harm the only vibrant democracy in the Middle East," Erdan added.

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“The decision to hold a vote that deals with Israel on Shabbat is another example of the moral decay of the UN, which prevents Israel’s position from being heard in a vote whose results are predetermined,” he said.

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The resolution wastitled "Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories" and calledon the Hague-based ICJ to "render urgently an advisory opinion" on Israel’s "prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of Palestinian territory."

The UNGA also called for an investigation into Israeli measures "aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem" and says Israel has adopted "discriminatory legislation and measures".

The Palestinian representative to the UN, Riyad Mansour, applauded the resolution after it passed."This vote comes one day after the new Israeli government was formed pledging to accelerate colonial and racist policies against the Palestinian people," Mansour told the General Assembly.

China, Iran, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Saudi Arabia were among the countries voting in favour, along with Muslim or Arab states with which Israel has relations including Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Azerbaijan.

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Israel, the US, the UK, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany and Italy voted against Friday’s resolution. India, South Korea and Spain were among the countries that remained absent.

The International Court of Justice last issued an advisory opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2004 when the General Assembly asked it to rule on the legality of the separation barrier.

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