On Tuesday, USA once again vetoed the United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the war between Hamas and Israel (1). On Wednesday at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing regarding Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, representative of the USA told the ICJ, “The court should not find that Israel is legally obligated to immediately and unconditionally withdraw from occupied territory. Any movement towards Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza requires consideration of Israel’s very real security needs.” It is worth remembering what Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli far-right politicians have said about Israel’s “security needs”, lately. I wrote about them in my post “What is the endgame of Israel and its allies?” For example, Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly said at the end of January that Israel’s “security needs” leave no space for a sovereign Palestinian state and that after the war ends, Israel wants to keep security control of “all land west of the River Jordan”, i.e. the Palestinian territories. Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, said, “The overall message of the American representative is that the court (i.e. the ICJ) should be at the service of the American and Israeli negotiation strategy – not that the American and Israeli negotiation strategy should abide by the court’s ruling. But a World Court cannot be at the disposal of the US. It is otherwise unclear why a potential ruling by the court that the occupation is illegal would be a burden on the negotiations.” (2, 3)
The unconditional support of Israel is making the USA increasingly isolated on the international arena. This was obvious also at the G20 summit in Brazil, on Thursday. Several journalists were accidentally able to listen to a closed-door meeting of top diplomats. During that meeting, some of the close allies of the USA expressed their frustration because of the vast amount of casualties in Gaza and because of the USA’s reluctancy to join calls for a ceasefire. Australia called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and opposed Israel’s planned and potentially devastating ground offensive in Rafah, South Gaza. Australia’s representative said, “We say again to Israel — do not go down this path. This would be unjustifiable.” Political expert Richard Gowan said about the meeting, “A year ago, the US had Russia on the back foot over Ukraine… Now the Biden administration looks like it is losing its grip on events in Ukraine and Gaza, and could lose its grip on the November elections too.” (4, 5)
References:
(1) “World slams US ceasefire veto at UN Security Council on Israel’s Gaza war” Al Jazeera 21.2.2024
(2) “US tells ICJ Israel should not be ordered to immediately end occupation” Al Jazeera 21.2.2024
(3) “Netanyahu defies Biden, insisting there’s ‘no space’ for Palestinian state” The Guardian 20.1.2024
(4) “G20 meeting reveals extent of US isolation on Gaza” Semafor 23.2.2024
https://www.semafor.com/article/02/22/2024/g20-leaked-audio-reveals-just-how-isolated-us-is-on-gaza
(5) “Gaza ceasefire veto prompts US isolation at G20 summit in Brazil” Al Mayadeen 23.2.2024
IDIS Observer 