Not everyone agrees that THAT UN vote was a disaster for Israel

Not everybody takes a pessimistic view of that UN vote: The Henry Jackson Society for one. And, by the way, who were the other 6 no votes, apart from the US, Canada and the Czech Republic? Further, can you guys please stop rubbishing the Obama administration when it's just demonstrated its support for Israel, yet again. This is not to expect support for anything else the administration does, but what other tokens would you demand for it to show its support for Israel?

Anyway, the article by IIana Decker, the North American Director of the Society, makes many pertinent points. For example, she says that "Despite the assertions of successive European representatives that their governments’ support for the bid was designed to spark the resumption of negotiations and the realization of a two-state solution, all are well aware that Thursday’s theater achieved the exact opposite." Why, one might ask. Because, she says, their support "may encourage additional unilateral attempts to gain rhetorical ground in circumventing direct negotiations and in violating past agreements between the parties. They know that it risks discouraging the much harder and less glamorous work of trudging toward statehood."

If you prefer, Abbas and his faction may well see no need to accept the constantly repeated Israeli invitation to return to the negotiation table to work towards a Two-State settlement. Why bother, when UN votes like this bring cheap applause, the possibility of dragging Israel into the ICC and have no apparent downside. The date of posting is 3 December, so it may have been written before the Netanyahu riposte re are E1. However, I suspect that it would make no difference to her general argument.

Indeed, Decker sees it differently.

By: Brian Goldfarb