Prior to the Madrid Conference, of '91, the office of
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir commissioned Shai Ben-Tekoa to do a
statistical analysis of U.N. voting vis a vis Israel. The following is a
summary of Mr. Ben-Tekoa's research.
Summary
Security Council:
175 Total Resolutions
74 Neutral
4 Against the perceived interests of an Arab state or body
97 Against Israel
General Assembly:
Cumulative Number of Votes cast with/for Israel:
7,938.
Cumulative Number of Votes cast against Israel: 55,642.
Detail
SECURITY COUNCIL:
1946-89
Frequency:
Since the Council first convened in 1946, at
least one Arab state sat on it in 39 of the body's first 43 years. Israel
never sat on the Council. From December 1947, when the ?Palestine Question?
first appeared on its agenda, to 1989, the Council held 2,682 meetings of
which 747 (26%) were devoted to the Arab-Israeli conflict. During this period,
the Council passed 605 resolutions of which 175 (29%) concerned this conflict.
Balance or Tilt:
Of these 175, 74 (42%) may be labeled neutral
or balanced. Of the remaining 101, 4 (4%) criticized or opposed the actions,
or judged against, the perceived interests of an Arab state or body.
Ninety-seven
resolutions (96%) were critical, or opposed the actions, or judged against the
perceived interests of Israel. The last time a resolution passed the Security
Council whose major thrust criticized Arab actions was on September 1, 1949.
Requests:
Between 1947 and 1989, the Council
"called upon," "demanded," "requested" etc.
Israel to "comply," "desist," "refrain" etc. 123
times. An Arab state, states or body was "called upon"
"ordered" "requested" 65 times, or 47% less.
Specificity:
In these requests, Israel was explicitly named
105 times. References to Arab states were usually implicit, as in "...the
parties concerned". An Arab state was identified by name 12 times.
Expressions:
The Council expressed its "concern,"
"grave concern," "regret," "deep regrets,"
"shock" etc. about Israeli actions 31 times. Regarding Arab actions,
the Council never expressed negative sentiments.
Condemnations:
The Council "condemned,
"censured," "deplored," "strongly deplored" etc.
Israel 49 times. The Council never "condemned,"
"censured," "deplored" etc. the Arabs.
Warnings:
The Council "warned," "solemnly
warned" etc. Israel 7 times. The Council never warned the Arabs.The above
data concern the entire post-war period until 1989, but by isolating the
period June 1967-1989, the numbers rise into even starker relief.
1967-89
Frequency:
The Council held 1,517 meetings. Of these 459
(30%) were devoted to the Arab-Israeli conflict.402 resolutions were passed.
Of these, 131 (33%) concerned the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Balance or Tilt of U.N. resolutions:
Neutral, Of these 131, 43 (33%) were neutral.
Of the remaining 88, all (100%) criticized or opposed the actions, or judged
against the interests of Israel. 0 resolutions criticized or opposed the
actions, or judged against the perceived interests of an Arab state or body,
or the PLO (founded by the Arab League in 1964).
Requests:
The Council "called upon,"
"demanded," "ordered" etc. Israel to "comply,"
"desist," "refrain" 83 times. The Council "called
upon," "requested" etc. an Arab state 29 times, 65% less. The
Council never "demanded," "ordered" etc. the PLO to do or
stop doing anything.
Expressions:
The Council expressed its "concern,"
"grave concern," "deep regrets." "shock" etc.
regarding Israel"s actions 28 times. The Council never expressed negative
sentiments regarding either any Arab state or the PLO.
Condemnations:
The Council "condemned,"
"censured," "deplored" Israel 43 times. No Arab state or
group was ever condemned.
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
The labor of the Assembly, the larger if less
potent U.N. chamber, on the other hand, makes the above numbers testimony to
the power and moderating influence of the United States in the Security
Council, whose numbers now, by contrast, will seem in retrospect only mildly
anti-Israel.
1947-89
Number of Resolutions or Resolution Parts
Voted On : 690
Balance or Tilt: Of these, 205 (30%) were
neutral. Of these, 64 (9%) were adopted without a vote, without objection or
by consensus. 18 (3%) were adopted unanimously. Thus the adjusted number of
balanced resolutions: 123 (18%)
Resolutions against Israel"s desires: 429
(62%)
Resolutions against Arab desires: 56 (8%).
Of the 56 votes not to the Arabs" liking,
49 concerned the establishment or financing of peace-keeping forces. Of the
remaining 7, one concerned inviting the Jewish Agency for Palestine to address
the General Assembly (May 1947); 1 concerned the Partition Plan (November
1947); 1 concerned establishing a trusteeship for Jerusalem; 3 concerned
refugees (1948); 1 protested admitting Israel as a member to the UN.
Discounting the 49 votes concerning peace-keeping forces, the last anti-Arab
vote of the General Assembly was in May 1949.
Requests:
The Arabs were "called upon" to
"comply," "desist," "refrain" etc. 4 times.
Israel was "demanded," "ordered" etc. to do General
Assembly bidding 305 times.
Expressions:
The Assembly expressed its
"concern," "grave concern," "anxiety" etc. about
Israeli policies or actions 179 times. The General Assembly expressed itself
in similar terms about Arab policies or actions 0 times.
Condemnations:
Israel was "condemned,"
"vigorously condemned," "strongly condemned,"
"deplored," "strongly deplored", "censured,"
"denounced" by the General Assembly 321 times. The Arabs were
condemned 0 times.
Cumulative Number of Votes cast with/for
Israel: 7,938.
Cumulative Number of Votes cast against
Israel: 55,642.
Arutz 7
Source: Christian Action for Israel
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