Danon: Palestinian Authority battling for Hamas at U.N., despite rivalry

“This resolution is causing some noise,” Danon said. “Everyone is used to resolutions against Israel in the General Assembly, and suddenly here is one against Hamas.”

By HERB KEINON
Updated: NOVEMBER 28, 2018 17:00
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon addresses a United Nations General Assembly (photo credit: MIKE SEGAR / REUTERS)
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon addresses a United Nations General Assembly
(photo credit: MIKE SEGAR / REUTERS)
The Palestinian Authority, which views Hamas as a bitter rival and has taken sanctions against it in Gaza, is working hard in the UN to defeat a resolution condemning the terrorist organization that is scheduled to come before the General Assembly on Thursday, Israel’s ambassador Danny Danon said.
Danon told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that he intends to cast light on this hypocrisy when he speaks in favor of the US-sponsored resolution.
The PA’s cuts in payments to Gaza – which has severely hit the civilian population there – is viewed by many as one of the reasons for the weekly violence along the border fence with Israel that has taken place there since the end of March.
The resolution will be brought on November 29, the 71st anniversary of the passage of the UN Partition Plan that paved the way to Jewish statehood.
Even though the Arabs rejected the plan that would have created both a Jewish and Arab state in British Mandatory Palestine – while the Jews accepted it – the UN has since declared that day as “International day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people.” Each year numerous anti-Israel resolutions are brought to the UN and reflexively passed on this occasion.
But this year, Danon said, the Palestinians are on the defensive as a result of the resolution condemning Hamas for rocket attacks on Israel, incendiary devices routinely sent across the border, putting civilians at risk, and hijacking resources meant for the civilian population for rockets and terror tunnels.
“This resolution is causing some noise,” Damon said “Everyone is used to resolutions against Israel in the General Assembly, and suddenly here is one against Hamas.”
Danon said that both Israel and the US are lobbying intensively in the UN and in capitals around the world for the resolution. He said he met Monday with outgoing US ambassador Nikki Haley, who has worked intensively against the anti-Israel bias in the UN over the last two years, and said that if this resolution passes, it would be a worthy “parting gift.”
Danon called the resolution a “win-win,” even though wording of the resolution might change to ensure passage between now and the time it is brought a vote, probably on Friday or Monday.
“The fact that now people are talking about Hamas, and that the Palestinian Authority – we all know about its relations with Hamas – is sweating to explain why they are suddenly in favor of Hamas, means we have already won,” he said.
Danon was cautiously optimistic about the resolution’s chances.
He noted that in June – when the General Assembly passed an anti-Israel resolution following the violence in Gaza calling for protection of the Palestinian civilian population – a US backed amendment to that resolution condemning Hamas garnered a 62-58 majority. That amendment did not pass, however, because of procedural issues and the need for it to gain a two-thirds majority.