By Sir Ronald Sanders
As the Middle East plunges deeper into conflict, the weakness of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the body charged with maintaining international peace and security, is being starkly exposed. Entrusted with the “primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security,” the UNSC has been paralyzed by the veto power wielded by each of its five permanent members, who often prioritize national interests and alliances over collective global responsibility.
Nowhere is this failure more evident than in the present escalating violence between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants across Lebanon’s southern Blue Line, and in the conflict in Gaza which preceded it.
On September 25, the day after the opening of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned the Security Council that “hell is breaking loose in Lebanon.” He urged the Security Council to work “in lock-step” to prevent further catastrophe, highlighting the conflict’s growing “scope, depth, and intensity.” Despite this plea, the Security Council did not act, although 500,000 people have already been displaced in Lebanon, with the death toll mounting daily.
This failure to act prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to voice his frustration. Speaking to the General Assembly, he lamented the deepening divisions among nations and underscored the urgent need for effective multilateralism to rebuild trust and tackle crises. Macron went further, acknowledging that the Security Council itself, of which France is a permanent member, requires reform. He called for a change in the body’s working methods, proposing limitations on the right of veto in cases of mass atrocities and greater attention to operational decisions needed for peacekeeping.
By contrast, while the Security Council indulges in inconclusive debates, held hostage to narrow self-interested positions, the UN General Assembly has demonstrated the grave concern of the majority of UN member states regarding the Middle East crisis. On September 18, the General Assembly adopted a historic resolution demanding that Israel end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory within 12 months. The vote, with 124 nations in favour, 14 against, and 43 abstaining, reflects the growing global impatience with Israel’s occupation.
This vote is more than just another UN resolution; it is historic for two reasons. First, it is the first time the General Assembly has explicitly condemned Israel’s apartheid regime. Second, it is the first time in 42 years that the UN has called for sanctions to end the illegal occupation, as confirmed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its July ruling. Human rights experts have pointed out that international law now hangs “on a knife’s edge,” with most states failing to take meaningful steps to comply with their legal obligations.
The Israel-Palestine conflict, complex as it is, remains a story of missed opportunities and broken promises. At its heart lies the failure of powerful governments, which emerged from the Second World War, to create a Palestinian state alongside Israel, as they promised in 1948. The ongoing violence since then is a tragic consequence of the refusal by major powers to engage on this question in a fair and balanced manner that acknowledges the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, both Muslim and Christian who lived in Palestine until they were driven out in 1948.
In the meantime, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has remained belligerent, rejecting calls for a ceasefire with Hezbollah and continuing his aggressive military campaign. Since October 7, when Hamas launched a stupid and inhumane targeted assault on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking over 200 hostages, over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory strikes, many of which were indiscriminate.
Netanyahu’s intransigence, despite mounting international pressure – including now from Israel’s closest ally, the United States – has deepened the possibility of a full-scale regional war.
For decades, the U.S. has shielded Israel from international censure by using its veto power to block Security Council resolutions. But as the violence escalates and Netanyahu’s refusal to heed American advice becomes more pronounced, cracks in this long-standing relationship are emerging. The U.S. now faces a delicate balancing act: maintaining its commitment to Israel’s security while addressing growing frustration among Arab states and the majority of other nations.
Supporting Netanyahu’s policies serves no interest except his own and those of the ultranationalist and ultrareligious factions in Israel, upon whom his political survival depends. His actions not only deepen the conflict, but also jeopardize long-term regional stability.
The two-state solution, once a distant hope, is now an urgent necessity. Stability in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as the security of the Israeli people, can only be achieved through a peaceful, negotiated settlement. The overwhelming majority of UN member states have expressed support for this path. It is time for the Security Council to move beyond its divisions and take decisive action. A binding resolution that enshrines the commitment to a two-state solution is not just a moral imperative—it is a practical one.
The United States, with its unique influence over both Israelis and Palestinians, is the only country capable of brokering peace, if it sheds all double standards, and applies objective and fair criteria to its approach. The rest of the world must encourage and support U.S. leadership in this context. The survival of countless lives and the future of peace in the region depend on it. So, too does, any confidence in the UN Security Council that may still exist.
(The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the US and the OAS. The views expressed are entirely his own. Responses and previous commentaries: www.sirronaldsanders.com)
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All of you all are jokers in the so called diplomatic world.
The so called West bank has been part of Israel since the Old Testament days. No amount of skillful marketing can change that. The Jews have continuously made efforts to live in peace with the Arabs including multiple concessions of land and limiting building in these areas despite a housing shortage.
Last year they invaded Israel, killed 1200 people and kidnapped 250. It was the worst massacre since the holocaust. Hamas and other terrorist groups continuously send thousands and thousands of missiles into Israel but we only hear about instances where Israel moves to defend itself. The US is the only country which traditionally refuses to be swayed by the intense pro-Arab marketing and this why they want to reform the UN, to take away the veto and transform it into a world government with iron teeth but today it’s Israel, tomorrow it might be us.
What is most likely, especially depending on the outcome of the US elections is that the US stands with Israel against the rest of the world. Even the bible supports this view. This will bring about Armageddon but this just means that Jesus Christ is coming…be ready..”you must be born again”
I would agree Netanyahu is out of control and is self serving. But the US has supported Israel for decades also out of self interest. Israel receives the most foreign from the US of any country the US supports and most of this is paid straight back by Israel buying weapons from the US. Israel serves as a vital buffer to any powers in the Middle East who threaten US interests. They have been unable to reign in their attack dog Netanyahu and this is also a problem because it threatens chaos in the Middle east and beyond, which in itself threaten US interests. It is romantic to expect the UN security council, or the UN itself to do anything for good here, when the states that make of the UN spend the bulk of their time exploiting their own populations.
As for a 2 state solution again, hopelessly romantic. Israel, as a colonial settler state in the midst of largely hostile Arab states, has 2 choices, keep expanding and carry out the genocide of the Palestinians, or cease to exist. The only lasting solution is single democratic state where both Arabs and Jews live together, as they did before the Nakba. A 2 state solution offers no justice for the Palestinian people and condones their dispossession and now apparent attempted genocide.
[…] writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the US and the OAS. The views expressed are entirely his own. Responses and […]
@Be ready – poor you and @Arnold, you have been so brained washed that if the pastor tell you to drink poison, you will ask for a second dose.
@ Sir Ron Saunders – I really think this is one of your great writings. However, I agree with President Erdogan when he stated that the USA does not really want peace. How can you be trying to negotiate peace between two parties and then giving one party more bombs and constantly using your veto power when most of the nations are trying to curtail in Israel? This is like parting a fight and instead of separating both parties, you hold only one party and allow the other to continue fire shots.
In your article you also stated the Hamas launched a stupid and inhumane assault on Israel on October 7. First, that is how the West would term it as an assault instead of a uprising against the inhumane treatment of Israel. As you rightfully stated, this situation started decades ago.
Second, you have to understand the mindset of the Palestinians after suffering to decades. You may have heard some saying death is easier than the life they have to live now. So, for them, even if they have to loose 100,000 people to gain their life and dignity back and live in a free Palestinians state without the control of Israel, they may be willing to do the sacrifice.
President Macron is correct, the security council has lost its respect. Unless there is a reform, what purpose does it serve? Can you really ask a country to arrest Putin while Netanyahu roams the world? Did Putin killed more women and children than Netanyahu? How many schools, hospital and UN centers have Israel bombed? How is the main supplier of the bombs?
And the big questions, why aren’t countries like Israel, the USA and other big countries and signatory to the ICJ treaties?
Interesting article Sir Ronald Sanders, but unfortunately it failed to disguise what I will politely term your ‘ignorance’ of the Middle East.
It is impossible to discuss this topic without mentioning the Islamic Republic of Iran. For your readers, I will highlight that Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and KH in Iraq are all proxies of the Iranian regime. It’s stated goal is to wipe Israel off the map, which is popular amongst some folk. Yet these same folk salivating
over the potential destruction of the world’s only Jewish state, missed the next part of the plan. That part involves them, or what is termed the infidel. The Ayatollahs believe that an apocalyptic war will take place before their Mahdi arrives.Subsequently, the whole world will become Islamic. It is the stuff of cranks, and I’m surprised you failed to mention this when you referenced ‘ultra religious’ in your article.
A worldwide Caliphate, which is also the aim of Hamas, might not appeal to your Antiguan audience. No more rum, Soca, carnival, or pork. The women of Iran are routinely imprisoned and tortured by the morality police for not wearing a Hijab correctly. It is an undesirable existence.
Back to Hamas, whom you describe as ‘stupid’. Is that an appropriate term for a death cult that murders, burns, rapes, mutilates, beheads and cuts babies from their mothers’ stomachs? I do apologise: I omitted the necrophilia part. The Nazis actually tried to disguise their atrocities, but these barbarians were so proud they had to film it all on go- pro cameras.
This has never been about land, this is a religious war. The Jihadists state that their intention is to kill the Jews in the name of Islam. So this is the closest to genocidal in this whole war.
Hamas don’t want peace, as terror is their pay cheque. They used millions of dollars to build terror tunnels under Gaza. Gaza is their land, it is not occupied by Israel. They could have built homes, schools and hospitals for their people. Instead they launched a war upon Israel without building one bomb shelter. They launch rockets into Israel daily, hiding amongst their women and children. The objective is to sacrifice as many of their own civilians as possible when Israel retaliates whilst their leaders stay in five star hotels in Qatar. It breathes fresh air into the ancient blood libel that Jews murder children.
Hamas manufacture fictitious numbers of dead with no questions asked by the UN.The same UN that employs many of the Hamas terrorists that infiltrated Israel on October 7th. UNRWA employees that helped butcher and hold hostage Jews and non -Jews. The same UN whose schools teach the Palestinian children that to slit a Jew’s throat is the pathway to righteousness. The UN is a disgrace.
These massacres of Jews are nothing new, they mirror the many massacres by the Muslims of Middle Eastern Jews. Those Jews who lived in countries such as Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, Morocco for thousands of years have been ethnically cleansed from there. Many Christian Lebanese have suffered a similar fate with their country been invaded by the Palestinians who were kicked out of Jordan. Lebanese Christians and Jews live in exile, driven from their country by Islamic extremism.
Jews have returned to their ancestral homeland. 3000 years of Jewish history lays underneath Jerusalem. The Jews have been a presence in this land for thousands of years. The Jews that settled there from 1880 onwards purchased the land. Waves of European Jews returned to Eretz Israel, fleeing the pogroms and later the Holocaust. Much of that land was uninhabited desert, which they made bloom.They even eradicated Malaria. This attracted Arabs from surrounding countries to migrate there too.
When the State of Israel was declared in 1948, the invading Arab countries told the Arabs living in Israel to leave whilst they killed the Jews. Those that left discovered that they were now refugees. This is the self inflicted Nakba that you mentioned.Many Arabs stayed because they wished to live in peace.Today, they remain in Israel as equal citizens. Many choose to serve in the IDF, they work in all the professions and are represented in the Knesset. Your accusation of an Israeli apartheid state lacks any credibility.
Meanwhile, apartheid can be found amongst the Afro- Palestinians who were brought to Gaza and the West Bank via the Arab slave trade. These Black Palestinians are forced to live in the Al – Abeed quarter. The term Al -Abeed means ‘slave’.
A two state solution was already offered, it was called Trans -Jordan which is part of present day Jordan. The British Mandate gave two thirds of the land to the Arabs, but they refused it. The Jews accepted the remaining third of the land, which is known as Israel. Yet the world demands that the Israelis give away more of their tiny land.
The head of the snake is Iran, which Saudi , Jordan and the UAE are all too aware of. Peace will only be achieved once Iran is freed from the Shias.
Free the hostages
Shabbat Shalom
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