By Kasper Sturtz

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) received a statement from Israel in response to the passing of Resolution SC/1 on providing aid to Lebanon during the evening of 24 November 2024. In its statement, Israel said, “Hence, let us be crystal clear: Israel unequivocally rejects this resolution and all attempts to prevent us from exercising our right to self-defense.” Later in its statement, Israel expressed their intention of rejecting a resolution the UNSC is currently working on to provide aid to the State of Palestine (SC/3).

The entire Council was “shocked,” as Representative Luke Wagner of France said, by this statement, including the United States.

Representative Andrew Murphy of the Russian Federation, who shares the Council’s concern, said that Israel “does not respect” the UNSC. They likened allowing Israel to do so without reproach to appeasement and said to the Council that they “know how that’s gone” in the past. Representative Murphy goes on to express that the Russian Federation believes the only way to effectively respond to Israel’s rejection of SC/1 would be to implement sanctions.

While the rest of the Security Council seems to agree that sanctions may be a step too far at this stage, the UNSC does unanimously agree that Israel needs to be reminded of its obligation to yield to the UNSC as a Member State of the United Nations. The Council subsequently agreed to write and publish a collective Presidential Statement condemning Israel’s blatant disregard for the UNSC’s authority.