On September 20, the 54^th General Assembly of the United Nations will convene. The following backgrounder reviews Israel’s experiences at the UN in the last session. As this session opens, negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians are progressing. Despite this improved atmosphere, however, Israel may still face challenges and conflicts at the UN.

As has been true since its initial membership in the world body over 50 years ago, in the 1998-1999 session Israel faced a number of political and diplomatic attacks, initiated primarily by the Arab group at the United Nations.

While long-term challenges for Israel at the UN persist, such as being denied membership into any regional group and thereby being excluded from certain high level positions within the UN structure, this year Israel faced two new harsh and politically motivated campaigns initiated by the Palestinian Authority. In the hopes of garnering international pressure against Israel, the Palestinians worked to reconvene the 4^th Geneva Convention on the topic of Israeli settlements and to resuscitate the 1947 UN Resolution 181, which called for the partition of Mandate-era Palestine. As the General Assembly reconvenes for the 54^th session, these issues and strategies continue.

Below are summaries of the two campaigns:

The Fourth Geneva Convention on Rules of War was adopted in 1949 by the international community in response to Nazi atrocities during World War II. The international treaty governs the treatment of civilians during wartime, including hostages, diplomats, spies, bystanders and civilians in territory under military occupation. The convention outlaws torture, collective punishment and the resettlement by an occupying power of its own civilians on territory under its military control. In the fifty years since its adoption, the Fourth Geneva Convention has never been reconvened to dispute world atrocities including those in Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo, Tibet, etc.

Since 1997 the Arab group at the United Nations has been trying to invoke the Fourth Geneva Convention against Israel, in regard to its settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and in particular at Har Homa in Jerusalem. The UN General Assembly has adopted a number of non-binding resolutions condemning Israeli settlements, and calling for a convening of the signatory nations of the Fourth Geneva Convention. In February 1999 the GA adopted a resolution calling for a special UN session to be held on July 15, 1999 in Geneva to examine "persistent violations" by Israel.

Israel rejects applying the 4^th Geneva Convention to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, stating that those territories were captured in 1967 as a result of a defensive war against countries which had illegally occupied them since 1948.

Switzerland is the Depository for the 4^th Geneva Convention. This means that the Swiss are technically responsible for organizing and convening a meeting of the signatory nations. However, the Swiss may only convene the meeting if a majority of the signatory nations agree to do so.

ADL has vigorously opposed convening the Fourth Geneva Convention in regard to Israeli settlements arguing that it could dangerously politicize the international legitimacy and high standings of the Geneva Conventions. It could open a Pandora’s box across the globe haphazardly applying the convention to a plethora of nations. Furthermore, it would give credence to the Palestinian tactic of using the international community to air grievances regarding the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and thereby threatens the peace process itself.

International efforts led by the United States were successful in scaling down a special UN meeting in Geneva held on July 15, 1999. The closed-door meeting lasted a mere 45 minutes. However, a resolution was unanimously passed stating that the Fourth Geneva Convention does apply to Israeli settlements in the "occupied territories."

The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 181 in 1947, which recommended the partition of land west of the Jordan River into "a Jewish state" and "an Arab state." The Jewish state was to comprise approximately 60 percent of the land, including the Negev Desert, while the Arab state would be comprised mainly of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. According to the Resolution, Jerusalem was to maintain a special status, "corpus separatum," under international authority.

The Zionist leadership accepted Resolution 181 viewing it as an opportunity to achieve even a small bit of sovereignty and security. In its 1948 Declaration of Independence the fledgling Jewish State reiterated its willingness to uphold the Resolution. However, the Arab states rejected the Resolution on the grounds that it did not come from the UN Security Council and therefore lacked the force of international law. Following Israel’s Declaration of Independence her Arab neighbors resorted to armed force in the hopes of preventing the implementation of Resolution 181. As a result of the Arab rejection of the resolution and Arab aggression as well as subsequent UN resolutions, Israel has long deemed Resolution 181 "null and void."

Recently, however, the Palestinians have resurrected Resolution 181 at the United Nations as a political attempt to put international pressure on Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The Palestinians at the UN have argued that the Resolution provides the legal basis for the existence of a Palestinian State, whether it is created through negotiations, unilateral declaration or otherwise. (According to Palestinian-Israeli Oslo agreements "final borders" is an issue to be determined during the permanent status negotiations.) Israel rejects this Palestinian argument arguing that besides Resolution 181 being "null and void" it is outside the structure of the Oslo process - which the Palestinians agreed to.

In 1998 Palestinian leaders began resuscitating Resolution 181 as a central component of their diplomatic campaign to garner international support for a Palestinian state. The Palestinians continued to raise 181 on many fronts. In March 1999 the German Ambassador to Israel, acting on behalf of Germany in its capacity as President of the European Union sent a letter to the Israeli Foreign Ministry describing the EU’s policy on Jerusalem as "Corpus Separtum," language taken directly from the 1947 Resolution.

In April 1999 the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva passed a resolution, sponsored by the Arab bloc with European support, which called for Palestinian self-determination on the basis of UN Resolution 181-only Israel and the United States did not vote in favor of the Resolution. As the issue of 181 continued to appear in the international limelight Palestinian leaders, including Palestinian Authority Chairman Arafat, worked vigorously to gain more and more attention for the Resolution.

Finally, on May 23, 1999, United States Vice President Al Gore broke the diplomatic silence against the legitimacy of 181’s revival when he stated that the United States rejects Resolution 181, which called for the partition of Palestine, as a basis for Israeli-Arab peace. Since that time the American administration has made clear its opposition to the revival of Resolution 181.

In the upcoming General Assembly session, observers predict that Israel will continue to face challenges at the United Nations, including those related to the 4th Geneva Convention and Resolution 181. However, with the newly rejuvenated negotiations, there is a possibility that Israel may benefit from an improved environment at the U.N., and may facilitate increased international support to defeat anti-Israel resolutions, and assistance in entering a regional group.

Prepared by the Department of Middle Eastern Affairs and International Analysis.

September 14, 1999

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