Israel Protests Russian Vote Supporting U.N. Resolutions

Israel has issued a formal protest to Russia for supporting a number of resolutions approved this week by the United Nations General Assembly condemning Israeli policy.

Foreign Minister David Levy sent a message to his Russian counterpart, Yevgeny Primakov, saying that Moscow’s votes flew in the face of its standing as a co- sponsor of the Middle East peace process.

The anti-Israel resolutions included a call for the nullification of the Israeli law annexing the eastern half of Jerusalem, and for a withdrawal by Israel from the Golan Heights and other “occupied territories.”

Only Israel and the United States voted against these resolutions.

In a move hailed by Israel, an overwhelming majority of the General Assembly members also adopted a resolution in support of the peace process. The measure was sponsored by the United States, Norway and Russia.

It was the fourth consecutive year the resolution was adopted. This year a new urgency appeared to be reflected in a call for the “immediate acceleration” of negotiations, compared with last year’s call for “rapid progress” in the talks.

Israel’s acting ambassador to the United Nations, David Peleg, dismissed the change as insignificant, choosing to emphasize the measure’s supportive message.

He said that as the General Assembly draws to a close, Israel’s hopes to “prevent a negative change” in the standard anti-Israel resolutions and the voting patterns largely had been realized.

But the votes by Russia were a glaring exception, “especially on resolutions which try to prejudge the final outcome of the negotiations,” Peleg said.

“We think the support of such resolutions doesn’t conform to the position of a cosponsor of the peace process,” he said.

The non-binding resolutions were adopted during the assembly’s annual discussion of the Middle East and Palestinian issues.