U.S. TO ADVOCATE FOR ISRAEL, JEWS AT NEXT U.N. SESSION

US seeks to limit UN resolutions biased against Israel
The US will try to limit the number of one-sided, anti-Israel resolutions passed by the UN General Assembly during its 59th session, which opens on Tuesday in New York, State Department officials said. It will also try to win approval of a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, which failed to pass last year.

Deputy assistant secretary of state Mark Lagon last week, in outlining Washington's priorities for the session, included the hope that the US would be able to block an inordinate number of resolutions by the 191-member body that bash Israel. "The United States seeks to bring balance to the number and content of Middle East resolutions," Lagon said at a forum hosted by the Hudson Institute. Lagon said the last General Assembly adopted 21 resolutions concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, many of which implied "that only Israel has obligations and responsibilities to make peace."

The resolutions did not mention suicide attacks against Israel, he noted. And he said, "they pressed the case of the Palestinians, but failed to present a complete picture of the situation on the ground, condemn all acts of terrorism, and recognize the legitimate security concerns of the Israeli people." Lagon said too that the US would also advocate for the abolition of a special UN General Assembly committee directed to investigate Israeli practices and other bodies "that are biased against Israel." It is not clear, given the makeup of the 191-member body, including the powerful Arab bloc, how successful the US will be in its bid to block anti-Israel resolutions.

The US and Israel are concerned that the General Assembly could, among other initiatives, support a Palestinian-initiated resolution calling on the more powerful Security Council to condemn Israel's construction of its security barrier and impose sanctions.

Last week, the American Jewish Committee called on world leaders "to make a concerted effort to end the world body's chronic assault on Israel." It released a report entitled, "One-Sided: The Relentless Campaign Against Israel in the United Nations."

"The UN General Assembly has an obsession with Israel that consistently poisons the climate for bilateral negotiations" between Israel and the Palestinians, said Jason Isaacson, AJC's director of government and international affairs and a principal author of the report.

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