The United States and Israel refused to participate in Monday's meeting of the U.N. General Assembly called by France and Saudi Arabia for the purpose of pressuring the Israelis into agreeing to a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem.
The Saudi foreign minister urged support for the two-state plan and was backed by the U.N. secretary-general who implored attendees not to let the objective become "another exercise in well-meaning rhetoric." The French foreign minister voiced similar reaction, saying the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians "is jeopardizing the stability and security of the entire region."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has steadfastly opposed the two-state solution on both nationalistic and security grounds. The U.S. echoed his sentiment, calling the conference not only "unproductive and ill-timed" but also "a gift to Hamas."
Gary Bauer is chairman of the Campaign for Working Families and has served on the board of Christians United for Israel. He tells AFN it's always shocking how seldom the U.N. will call a conference on how to stop Islamic extremism, or how to deal with Hamas, Hezbollah, or Islamic Jihad.
"They could care less. It's not even on their radar screen," he laments. "No matter what happens – no matter if Hamas attacks Israel and rapes women and puts little babies in microwave ovens and blows them up – the U.N. sits around twiddling its thumbs."
In contrast, says Bauer, "any time that Israel has the upper hand, has won a war, or protected itself, then the bureaucrats and the leftists and the jihadists that run the U.N. quickly put together a conference."
He argues that pushing a two-state solution is a waste of time. "This just will not and cannot happen. This is much ado about nothing."
A stage-managed publicity stunt
A U.S. State Department press release describes the conference as nothing more than a publicity stunt that could have negative effects on diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
"Our focus," says the State Department, "remains on serious diplomacy: not stage-managed conferences designed to manufacture the appearance of relevance."
French President Emmanuel Macron said last week that his country intends to recognize a Palestinian state in September at the U.N. General Assembly. That announcement, says the State Department, "only emboldens Hamas" and undercuts diplomatic efforts to end the conflict and free the hostages Hamas still holds from its October 2023 attack on Israel.
