Arms embargoes on Israel would cross a red line

Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator briefs media on the launch of the funding appeal to support conflict-torn Sudan in 2024 at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, February 7, 2024.

The consistent harassment of Israel by the international community, notably the UN, is a phenomenon to which Israelis have become accustomed. However, the recent proposal by certain UN bodies advising the Security Council, for an arms embargo, especially following the events since October 7, crosses a line. This step not only escalates tensions but also undermines Israel’s security. It’s a move that we find increasingly unjust and illegitimate.

In recent months, we have witnessed a clear trend – senior UN officials, envoys, advisory teams, and even various agencies on its behalf discussing Israel’s activity in Gaza, the legitimacy of the fighting, and the two-state solution. Moreover, we were not surprised to find that UN agencies, such as UNRWA staff, participated in the murder of about 1200 Israelis in the October 7 atrocities.

The clear narrative promoted by these officials is “genocide” with complete disregard for the security needs of the State of Israel, the losses it suffered in the events of October 7, and, of course, 134 hostages, still held captive, who were brutally abducted from their homes.

UN legitimization of Hamas

The UN’s flawed and biased discourse harms the security of Israel and the region. A clear example of this is the recent and outrageous statement of the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths. He claimed in an interview with Sky News that they don’t see Hamas as a terrorist organization, but rather as a political movement. Giving legitimacy to a terrorist organization that committed the atrocities of October 7 and also abuses the Palestinian population it ostensibly controls does not provide stability to the conflict and even harms and endangers regional peace.

Another outrageous statement was added to the organization’s résumé, when the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese claimed that “the victims of October 7 were murdered because of Israeli oppression.” Here, too, justifying the killing and rape of innocent Israelis because of political problems does not contribute to the ongoing conflict and, of course, fuels the discourse in the Middle East.

A call to impose an arms boycott on Israel is no longer an outrageous statement, which must also be condemned from the ground up, but a direct call for real harm to the security and existence of the State of Israel. If the Western liberal bloc turns its back on the only democratic state in the region, Israel will cease to exist.

A truck, marked with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) logo, crosses into Egypt from Gaza, at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah, Egypt, November 30, 2023. (credit: MOHAMED ABD EL GHANY/REUTERS)

A truck, marked with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) logo, crosses into Egypt from Gaza, at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah, Egypt, November 30, 2023. (credit: MOHAMED ABD EL GHANY/REUTERS)

Israel is not Iran. Israel wants an honest and genuine peace agreement with every country in the region to maintain quiet and regional cooperation, while countries like Iran do everything possible to violate the peace of the entire region in the name of radical Islam.

Consequences of foregoing peace

The worrying trend that can be seen in the rhetoric of senior members of the organization, whose very establishment, principles, and goals are “global peace and security,” produces exactly the opposite and does not contribute to any one side of the conflict. Justifying Hamas’s actions, no matter the rationale, neither helps the average Palestinian fleeing Hamas rule in Gaza nor saves children used as human shields. Legitimizing this radical Islamic terrorist group produces the opposite effect.

When an organization whose official goal is to maintain world peace and security manifests itself in this disgraceful manner, it has serious long-term consequences that we cannot understand at this stage. While the war for public opinion continues and false one-sided narratives are presented to the citizens of the world, Israel stands alone as the only democratic state in the entire region against all the terrorist representatives of radical Islam.

An arms boycott of Israel not only will damage its image or public relations at the international level, but it will lead to a real blow to its security dramatically and will give credence to the rampant anti-Zionism internationally.

Israel’s democratic nature as key

Israel, facing a cruel enemy that calls for its destruction, as  Jews did in Nazi Germany beginning in 1933, faces a challenge that no Western mind can comprehend. Nevertheless, Israel maintains the democratic character on which it was founded through moral activity at the heart of the complex conflict in history.

Israel is not free from criticism, let alone during warfare, but biased criticism and analysis of the specific situation without addressing all the variables in the larger picture is destructive. Given that war is controversial, Israel should understand that it may face criticism, especially for its military superiority. But in this regard, the UN has been sinning against the State of Israel for decades.

The West, human rights groups, and the UN must support Israel’s justified efforts to rescue hostages and stop Hamas’s terrorist threats. However, some organizations contradict their missions by fully legitimizing Hamas. Glorifying terrorists internationally while undermining Israel – the region’s only democracy and Western ally – risks destabilizing global peace. Israel must maintain its right to freedom of action in Gaza, to complete the work of destroying the Hamas terrorist organization and returning all the hostages.

Currently in his third and final year of his BA in government, diplomacy, and strategy at Reichman University, the writer is a fellow of the Argov Program in Leadership and Diplomacy and hosts a podcast on government issues.