Israel Punishes the World After UN Vote

On Monday evening I appeared on Al Jazeera English to speak about Israel's reaction to Friday's UN Security Council decision.

Resolution 2334, passed by a vote of 14-0 with the United States abstaining, reaffirmed that Israel's settlements in the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, are illegal.

While I previously expressed strong reservations about the resolution - because it does not go far enough and could undermine some key Palestinian positions - I told Al Jazeera that Israel's panicked reaction is significant.

It is a sign that Israel interprets the UN move as a severe blow to its unrestrained colonialism on Palestinian land and as an indication that it is becoming seriously isolated.

I also argued that Israel's attacks on President Barack Obama, and its open alignment with President-elect Donald Trump, are evidence of the fracturing of the pro-Israel bipartisan consensus in the United States.

Boosting BDS?

The resolution demands that Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem," but it imposes no specific consequences if Israel fails to do so. In that sense it is as toothless as all its predecessors.

But without the fig leaf of a peace process to hide behind, Israel clearly fears that patience is running out and that this resolution will boost Palestinian-led efforts to hold Israel accountable - particularly the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.

Ron Dermer, Israel's ambassador to the United States, told CNN that the resolution "encourages boycotts and sanctions against Israel."

But Israel, already in a weak position internationally, seems determined to antagonize the world as much as possible.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also holds the foreign ministry portfolio, has ordered that "working ties" be limited with 12 of the 14 countries on the Security Council that backed the resolution - the two others, Malaysia and Venezuela, have no diplomatic ties with Israel.

This means, in effect, that Israel is imposing diplomatic sanctions on the likes of China, Russia, the United Kingdom and France.

Israel has already canceled a visit by the prime minister of Ukraine, prompting Kiev to summon the Israeli ambassador for a dressing down.

Test for new UN chief

Netanyahu also ordered the foreign ministry to "reevaluate" ties with the UN and has reportedly cut a total of about $8 million in funding to five UN institutions "that are particularly hostile towards Israel." It is considering withholding another $48 million in membership dues.

Israel is also reportedly considering halting visas for employees of UN agencies and expelling Chris Gunness, the spokesperson for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees.

It would be an unprecedented step for Israel to expel the spokesperson of a UN agency.

"We've heard nothing official and therefore I have no substantive comment," Gunness told The Electronic Intifada.

Gunness has long been a thorn in Israel's side - he has been one of the few international officials willing to speak forthrightly about Israel's violations of international law and to call for accountability.

If Israel expels Gunness and is met with impunity and silence by the UN and world governments, it would be the first clear sign that the resolution passed on Friday is indeed toothless.

Outgoing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed the resolution, but standing up to Israel's bullying will likely be the first major test for his successor Antonio Guterres, who takes over the helm at UN headquarters on 1 January.

The spokesperson for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon did not immediately return a request for comment.

Vitriolic

Israel is also threatening to punish the world by withholding its supposedly superior technologies.

"The era is over in which countries benefit from Israeli know-how in high-tech, in security and so on, and from the prestige of a visit to Israel and involvement in the Middle East without providing diplomatic repayment," Dani Dayan, Israel's consul-general in New York and a former leader in the West Bank settler movementtweeted.

Sami Peretz, a commentator for the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz ridiculed Dayan's statement, warning that limiting exports "would be much, much worse than any harm ever caused by the BDS movement."

Israel has been particularly vindictive toward New Zealand and Senegal, which co-sponsored the resolution along with Malaysia and Venezuela.

Haaretz reported that New Zealand acted with strong backing from the UK, and despite Netanyahu's threats to its foreign minister Murray McCully that advancing the resolution would be tantamount to a "declaration of war."

Netanyahu ordered the cancellation of aid projects in Senegal, including a drip-irrigation project that Israel marketed as part of the "fight against poverty in Africa" - a fight that is apparently only worth engaging in if it suits Israel's propaganda priorities.

But the most vitriolic response has been reserved for Israel's closest allies and benefactors.

Echoing Netanyahu himself, Ambassador Dermer has been touring television studios personally accusing President Obama of being behind the "ganging up" on Israel at the UN - something the US administration vehemently denies.

Notably, however, Israel has not shown the courage of its convictions by refusing the record-breaking $38-billion military aid package Obama recently agreed to give it.

Israeli defense minister Avigdor Lieberman likened France's efforts to hold an international conference in coming weeks to build on the UN resolution to the Dreyfus Affair, the notorious 19th century trial and persecution of a French military officer that is seen as a seminal example of modern European anti-Semitism.

"Ridiculous"

Netanyahu is defending his measures as "a wise, aggressive and responsible reaction, a natural response that makes it clear to the nations of the world that what took place at the UN is unacceptable to us."

But his reaction is causing disquiet even among hardline supporters of Israel's anti-Palestinian policies.

Dov Weisglass, a former senior advisor to the late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is notorious for saying a decade ago that Israel would restrict food to Gaza "to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger."

Now Weisglass is calling Netanyahu's reaction to the UN resolution "ridiculous."

"The attempt to create symmetry between us and the rest of the world and to punish the 14 countries that voted against us is actually making the Palestinian dream of isolating Israel internationally into reality," Weisglass said.

Tzipi Hotovely, Israel's deputy foreign minister, also expressed misgivings. She argued that rather than canceling diplomatic visits, Israel would be better off trying to explain its position to the world.

"We need to get rid of this false term, the phrase 'occupied territory.' This is Israel's territory -- the Land of Israel," Hotovely said in reference to the West Bank.

Hotovely may not have noticed that Israel has been trying to do that for decades, with elaborate marketing and propaganda schemes. The vote in the UN showed that all Israel's efforts to convince the world that it has the right to steal as much Palestinian land as it pleases have come to nought.

Experience shows, however, that it is Palestinians who will feel the real brunt of Israel's revenge: Israel is already vowing to build thousands more settler homes on Palestinian land in direct defiance of international law.

The question is whether world governments, having provoked Israel's rage, will have the courage at last to hold it accountable.