The Showdown at the United Nations

There is movement in the United Nations to unilaterally grant statehood to Palestine without the territory accepting or respecting the right of Israel to exist. In a statement, former British prime minister, Tony Blair, stated that the process for statehood has been extremely slow, virtually non-existent lately and ultimately, not productive. Therefore, this is the best course of action. Mr. Blair has further encouraged Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, to present his application for statehood to the United Nations today. By all accounts, that will happen.

This is not just an argument against Palestinian statehood for the sake of arguing. The Montevideo Conference of 1933 laid out quite clearly what constituted a state, such as a defined territory and a government – some of which the Palestinians do not meet. However, my biggest concern is for Israel.

In 1979, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat signed the Camp David Accords in part to help guarantee some type of security for Israel, who had been on constant guard and under frequent attack since their independence in 1948. Since that time, the Israeli state has fought constantly for their right to exist and the agreement in 1977 was the first step towards normalizing relations with an Arab neighbor who foresaw the fruitless and expensive road towards perpetual war. Since that historic agreement, Israel has dealt with a new, less defined enemy that will not be satisfied until the Jewish state is driven into the sea.

In the years following the Camp David Accords, Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have entered into one agreement after another and ultimately, it has failed because of the PA's inability to control the individual and organized terrorists from launching frequent attacks upon their neighbor. Time after time, the guarantee of Israeli security has compelled the Palestinian government to back away from promises. Throughout it all, an influential U.S. and its allies have said that Israeli security must be guaranteed before a Palestinian state can be established. These latest moves would undermine all of that and put a weakened Israel once more under the threat of its Arab neighbors. In short, such a unilateral move is a prelude to war.

As I said, my concern lies with Israel. President Obama seems increasingly incapable of projecting an American presence on the situation, overturning decades of influence. Worse yet, Arab countries are talking more provocatively about their long-hated neighbor. It is only a matter of time before this situation grows untenable. Mr. Abbas’ application for statehood is not destined for quick passage. In the interim, let’s hope that other countries are intelligent enough to avoid the abyss.