Would General Assembly Resolution Be De-Legitmizing Of Israel...??

Submitted by Sheldon Tyber (United States), May 3, 2011 at 13:54

"Their political campaign of delegitimization will likely reach new heights with a General Assembly resolution in September."

Would a General Assembly resolution giving support to a Palestinian announcement of statehood really be de-legitimizing of Israel? It wouldn't change the borders of Israel (which have never been formalized, anyway), it doesn't call for a unitary state of Israel, and in all likelihood, it wouldn't have much effect at all on Israel proper.

Admittedly, it would put pressure on Israel to change its approaches to Gaza and the West Bank. But that outght not, and does not, de-legitimize Israel.

Personally, I'm not afraid of a Palestinian announcement of statehood and/or a General Assembly resolution in support of that. Along those lines, we need to distinguish between the political accommodation, i.e. negotiation, that would be required of Israel (to which which Israeli leaders have repeatedly committed themselves) vs. existential threats to the state, e.g. de-legimization, which must be vigorously resisted.

I'm not intending to minimize the strategic sea changes to Israel that would result from a Palestinian announcement of statehood and/or a General Assembly resolution in support of that. As I say, though, political change MAY be acceptable (depending on the results of the negotiations), it need not be feared.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".