During the past weeks, life in Israel stood still. Schools and stores were closed, and millions of citizens of the Jewish state took shelter as rockets shot by Palastinian terrorists rained down from Gaza. Against this background, events at the UN in New York just days later are incomprehensible. This week, instead of supporting the only democracy and reliable partner in the region, Germany voted for a slew of one-sided resolutions against Israel. The move on its own is concerning enough, but given the developments of the previous week, it is all the more difficult to understand.

While the UN was obsessively busying itself with the Jewish state, not a single resolution on the situation in Syria was adopted, not a single word on the Iranian regime’s thugs shooting protesters in Beirut and Baghdad was spoken, and nothing about the government’s own bloody repression of domestic protest was of note. Instead, Israel stood in the crossfire of criticism. Particularly disappointing is Germany’s endorsement of seven out of eight resolutions despite the fact that Foreign Minister Heiko Maas himself was critical of Israel’s treatment in the UN only a few short months ago. 

A change in voting behavior is important for two reasons. First, the pattern is tough to reconcile with Germany’s staaträson, as combating the perpetual delegitimization of the Jewish state at all levels, including the UN, should be part of the fight against antisemitism. Second, though the Foreign Office argues that German involvement ensures gradual changes to these resolutions, such changes are not helpful. The character and political signal remains the same. We hope that the German government will reflect upon and change their voting behavior.

This article originally appeared in the Jüdische Allgemeine.