Israel’s Counterterror Summit Attendance Shouldn’t Be Enough

Israel’s Counterterror Summit Attendance Shouldn’t Be Enough

Michael Rubin  

Yesterday, Rick Richman doubled down on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s continued acquiescence to Israel’s exclusion from the Global Counterterrorism Forum, the Obama administration’s marquee counterterrorism diplomatic program. Rick is right that the State Department is embarrassing itself, and rendering meaningless any outcome to the forum. But the willingness to exclude Israel for the mirage of success is not the exception, but rather the norm.

Consider the United Nations’s regional groupings. Logically, Israel should be part of the United Nations’s Asian Group, simply on the basis of geography. But Arab states block Israel’s membership—because, it seems, in the Middle East hatred trumps logic. That other United Nations members allow this nonsense demeans the entire body. After all, North Korea doesn’t block South Korea or vice versa, nor does India block Pakistan. While not a regional issue, the United States holds its nose and allows Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit New York on UN business. Israel’s exclusion from the Asian Group has encouraged the worst excesses: Prior to Mary Robinson’s anti-Semitic Durban “anti-racism” Conference, the worst excesses came out of the Asian Group’s preparatory meeting in Tehran.

True, after several years, the Western European and Others Group allowed temporary membership for Israel, but with Turkey in the same group for voting purposes, expect the fiercely anti-Israel Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to raise complaints. He realizes that when he makes enough noise, the West caves.

That the United Nations demeans itself when it plays these games with Israel is well-known. That Clinton believes she should follow its example shows her true self and sets a very dangerous precedent.


http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/12/11/israels-counterterror-summit-attendance-shouldnt-be-enough/