Opposition to Proposed UN Security Council Resolution Condemning Israeli Settlements Grows, Union for Reform Judaism and ARZA Issue Statement Urging Opposition to the Resolution

Following on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s opposition to Palestinian efforts to have the UN Security Council condemn Israeli settlements, the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and it’s Zionist arm the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA) have issued a statement opposing passage of the draft resolution, which was submitted by Lebanon.

The URJ and ARZA “support the official statement by the United States that the UN Security Council is not the proper forum for discussions of the peace process, and that the proposed resolution would not be a "productive step."  The URJ and ARZA call upon the United States to stop this proposed resolution from being brought to the Security Council for a vote and, if this fails, to use veto power to prevent passage of this resolution.” The statement goes on to say: 

“Our collective voice may be strong, but it is stronger when backed up with the voices of people in the pews!  Send President Obama a message from the contact page on the White House website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact.  Please make the following points:

• Thank you for standing up for Israel
• Please continue to prevent the proposed Lebanese Resolution condemning Israel from coming to the UN Security Council
• If the resolution does get to the Council, please use our veto to prevent passage of the resolution”

In an editorial published on January 26th in the Wall Street Journal, Alan Dershowitz writes the following about the proposed resolution:

“There is a big difference between a government action being unwise, which the Israeli policy is, and being illegal, which it is not. Indeed, the very Security Council resolution on which proponents of the condemnation rely makes it clear that the legal status of Israel's continued occupation isn't settled.”

Dershowitz continued:

“The current draft of the proposed resolution condemns "all Israeli settlement activities." Read literally, this condemnation would extend to the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, the Western Wall, and those areas that even the Palestinian Authority concedes must remain under Israeli control. Israel will not, and should not, return "all" such territories. The U.S. does not believe it should, nor do reasonable Palestinians.

So what then is the purpose of the utterly unrealistic resolution now under consideration? It simply gives cover to those Palestinians who do not want to sit down and negotiate directly with Israel. It is also a stalking horse for the Palestinian effort to secure a further U.N. resolution unilaterally declaring Palestinian statehood—a result that neither Israel nor the U.S. would recognize.”

Other groups calling for opposition to the proposed resolution include Stand With Us, which has published a sample letter for use in writing to President Obama and other elected officials.

Intel increases investment in Israel

Intel has confirmed plans to invest $2.7 billion to upgrade its Kiryat Gat facility in southern Israel to produce new technology for semiconductors. The investment will boost the facility's workforce by approximately 1,000 jobs over the coming year. Intel currently employs over 7,000 people in Israel. Kiryat Gat is about a 20 minute drive from Sderot, Ashkelon and Ashdod. Click here for more details.

Israel in your next computer

Intel released the next generation of its computer chips (Core i3/i5/i7) that will power new laptop and desktop computers. Much of the development took place at Intel’s facilities in Haifa in a project that at its peak included more than 1,000 software engineers. This is the second time that the capabilities of Intel's Israeli development center has been at the heart of a strategic development of such a scale. Click here to read more.

Sign up and speak out for Gilad Shalit

Magen David Adom has launched a series of initiatives worldwide to gain Red Cross access to Gilad Shalit. It has set up an online petition to highlight his plight and demand the basic human right, as set out in the Geneva Convention, for Shalit to be visited immediately by the International Red Cross. Sign the petition and forward it to as many people as possible.

Rocket fire from Gaza on Israeli civilians continues

By the second week of 2011 more than 20 rockets, missiles and mortar shells had been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel's southern communities. During 2010, over 235 Grad missiles, Kassam rockets and mortar shells were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

Help Israel recover from its worst forest fire

Always a time for planting in Israel, the Jewish New Year for the Trees, Tu B'Shvat, served as a symbolic start to bringing the devastated Carmel forest back to life after the early December fire that led to 44 deaths and destroyed about five million trees along with many plants and creatures. It will take massive manpower and money to restore the nature reserve, fix damaged buildings and infrastructure, and care for residents traumatized or left homeless by the worst forest fire in Israel's history. Israel needs your help with this effort. The JNF is collecting funds to help with the recovery.

UN Votes for Durban III

In the ongoing campaign to delegitimize Israel the UN voted to authorize Durban III with a General Assembly session planned for September 2011 to commemorate the original Durban conference. The Israeli government issued an official response. The first conference in 2001 titled the “UN World Conference Against Racism” became a focus for hateful anti-Jewish rhetoric and anti-Israel political agendas, prompting both Israel and the United States to withdraw their delegations from the conference. Participants revived the charge that "Zionism is Racism" and copies of the anti-Semitic work The Protocols of the Elders of Zion were sold on conference grounds. Read more about the original conference here. Canada and Israel have announced that they will boycott Durban III. There were 22 other countries that voted against having the conference. Among the countries abstaining were Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Hungary and Spain. To help understand the international campaign to delegitimize Israel read FAQ: The campaign to defame Israel.