The United States on Wednesday vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, marking the 49th time the US has used its veto power against Israel-related UN Security Council draft resolutions.
The draft resolution was brought forth by the 10 elected members of the Security Council, and every member except for the US voted in favour of the measure.
The veto marked over a year of US diplomatic cover provided to Israel as it continues to wage its war on Gaza, which last month was expanded with Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.
However, this diplomatic support for Israel from Washington is nothing new and has been taking place on a bipartisan basis for decades.
In addition to giving Israel around $3bn in military aid each year, the US has also been Israel’s biggest ally in the international body and has often used its veto power at the Security Council to block diplomatic measures targeting Israel for its treatment of Palestinians.
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Veto number one
According to the Jewish Virtual Library, the US has used its veto power 48 other times against draft Security Council resolutions pertaining to Israel since it first began using it in 1970.
The first, resolution S/10784, expressed deep concern “at the deteriorating situation in the Middle East” and was aimed at Israeli aggression on the Lebanese border.
Drafted by Guinea, the former country of Yugoslavia, and Somalia, the US was the only country to veto the resolution. Panama abstained from the vote.
Several similar resolutions were also vetoed by the US in subsequent years. In 1975, the year civil war broke out in Lebanon, resolution S/11898 called on “Israel to desist forthwith from all military attacks against Lebanon”. Again, the US was the only veto.
In 1982, the year which saw some of the fiercest Israeli assaults against Lebanon, Spain presented a draft resolution which demanded Israel “withdraw all its military forces forthwith and unconditionally to the internationally recognized boundaries of Lebanon” within six hours. The US vetoed it.
The US vetoed similar resolutions in 1985, 1986 and 1988. The Lebanese civil war ended in 1990, but Israel did not withdraw from the south of the country until the year 2000.
Jerusalem
The final status issue of Jerusalem, which the Oslo Accords stipulated would be discussed only in the latter stages of any peace deal between Israel and Palestine, has long been the target of the US veto at the UN.
Draft resolution S/12022, introduced in 1976, called on Israel to protect the “Holy Places which are under its occupation”.
It said it was “Deeply concerned further at the measures taken by the Israeli authorities leading to the present grave situation including measures aimed at changing the physical, cultural, demographic and religious character of the occupied territories.”
The US was the only country to vote against the draft text.
In 1982, Morocco, Iran, Jordan, and Uganda presented a draft resolution after an Israeli soldier shot at worshippers, killing at least two, within the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem.
It called upon “the occupying Power (Israel) to observe and apply scrupulously the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the principles of international law governing military occupation and to refrain from causing any hindrance to the discharge of the established functions of the Higher Islamic Council in Jerusalem.”
Referring to Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in the Old City of Jerusalem, the text referred to the site as “one of the holiest places of mankind”.
It described the “unique status of Jerusalem and, in particular, the need for protection and preservation of the spiritual and religious dimension of the Holy Places in the city”.
A further draft text calling on Israel to respect Muslim holy places was vetoed by the US in 1986.
Palestine
In 1976, the US vetoed a resolution calling on Israel to withdraw from all Palestinian territories – in this case, the UK, Sweden, and Italy abstained.
Tunisia’s draft text, presented in 1980, stressed the “inalienable rights of the Palestinian people”. The US voted against it, and the UK, France, Norway, and Portugal abstained.
Resolutions condemning Israeli settlements, considered illegal under international law, were blocked only by the US in 1983, 1997 and 2011.
In 2004 and 2006, the US refused to call on Israel to halt wars against Gaza, which together killed hundreds of civilians.
Obama’s last stand
In late 2016, following the election of Donald Trump but before he took office, the US administration of former President Barack Obama abstained from a vote on Israeli settlements.
It was the first time in four decades that a UN resolution condemning Israel had passed.
This was despite the US using its veto against a similar vote in 2011, and the only time the Obama administration had wielded its veto during his presidency.
Citing the lack of any visible progress in terms of the peace process, US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said, “One cannot simultaneously champion expanding Israeli settlements and champion a viable two-state solution that would end the conflict. One had to make a choice between settlements and separation.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a “shameful” move by the US.
Trump attacks UN
The previous Trump administration ushered in a new era of pro-Israel diplomacy at the UN.
In June 2018, the US withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council, accusing it of having a “chronic bias” against Israel.
The Trump administration also vetoed several UN resolutions regarding Israel.
On 19 December 2017, the US vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution that rejected Trump’s move to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Several months later, in June 2018, the US vetoed a Kuwait-drafted measure that condemned Israel’s use of force against Palestinian civilians. Israeli forces had killed dozens of peaceful protesters in Gaza during the March of Return protests.
Like in many other cases, the US was the sole dissenter against the measure.
Israel’s war on Gaza
On 7 October 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in Gaza launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing around 1,140 people and taking an additional 240 people hostage.
Israel responded with full-fledged war and launched a devastating aerial bombing campaign, followed by a full ground invasion of Gaza. So far, Israeli forces have killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, according to the official death toll reported by the Palestinian health ministry.
However, other conservative estimates place the death toll much higher, with one study published in the Lancet journal estimating that the death toll could be upwards of 186,000 people.
Since the beginning of the war, members of the Security Council have tried introducing resolutions calling for a ceasefire and an end to the fighting in Gaza.
However, these efforts have been blocked on numerous occasions by the US. Since the war began, Washington has blocked four different resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Additionally, the US has blocked a resolution aimed at recognising Palestine as a full member of the United Nations.
Many world leaders have denounced US efforts to block a call for a ceasefire at the international body, and Washington’s western allies have also expressed regret at the failure to pass these measures.