As UN General Assembly debates Palestinian Authority draft resolution ordering Israel to ethnically cleanse Judea and Samaria of Jews within one year, Republican senators lobby Western hemisphere powers to reject the proposal.
By David Rosenberg, World Israel News
The United Nations General Assembly held hearings Tuesday on a draft resolution submitted by Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Authority’s envoy to the U.N., demanding Israel vacate Judea and Samaria within one year, and calling on countries around the world to impose arms embargoes on the Jewish state.
The General Assembly is slated to vote on the draft resolution Wednesday, after the body debated the measure a day earlier.
If passed, the current version of the non-binding resolution would demand Israel remove not only its military presence in Judea and Samaria but also ethnically cleanse the area of its roughly half a million Jewish residents.
Republican senators protested the proposed resolution Tuesday, issuing a joint statement penned by Florida’s Marco Rubio, calling the measure a “absolute disgrace that rewards terrorism.”
“This proposal introduced by the Palestinian delegation, ahead of the United Nations’ General Assembly, is an absolute disgrace that rewards terrorism. It is a clear insult to the Jewish people and anyone who understands history,” the letter reads.
“As we approach the one-year anniversary of the barbaric terrorist attack by Hamas and affiliated Palestinian terrorist groups against innocent Israeli civilians, which involved murder, mutilation, and sexual violence, the international community must unequivocally unite against this evil, one-sided effort to delegitimize Israel.”
“Instead of proposing biased and counter-productive initiatives, which will do nothing to advance a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, the international community must focus its energy and resources on ensuring Hamas and other terrorist groups are completely destroyed. We must remain firm to ensure every single hostage held by these terrorists is safely returned to their loved ones.”
The letter was signed by Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Rick Scott (R-FL), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY),Tim Scott (R-SC), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Jim Risch (R-ID), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Kennedy (R-LA), John Hoeven (R-ND), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ted Budd (R-NC), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), J.D. Vance (R-OH), John Barrasso (R-WY), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Josh Hawley (R-MO), James Lankford (R-OK), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Mike Braun (R-IN), John Thune (R-SD), Roger Wicker (R-MS), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Katie Boyd Britt (R-AL).
In addition to the letter condemning the draft resolution, Senator Rubio penned letters to two Latin American leaders – Argentinian President Javier Milei and Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader – urging them to vote against the measure in the General Assembly.
“The resolution…calls on countries to not legally recognize Israel’s presence in the Palestinian areas, enforce sanctions on Israeli officials, cease the transfer of arms to Israel that could be used in the Palestinian areas and to avoid establishing diplomatic missions in Jerusalem,” Rubio wrote.
“These are severe demands that aim to destroy the independence of the Middle East’s only democracy. All democracies should oppose these adverse ambitions.”