Israel sponsors UN resolution on agriculture; Arabs who would benefit abstain

From Jordan's Petra news agency:

The Arab Group at the United Nations abstained from voting on an Israeli draft resolution aimed at ostensibly improving the development of sustainable agriculture technologies.

The General Assembly approved by a recorded vote of 138 in favor to one against (Bolivia) and 34 abstentions, among which were the Arab states at the UN.

The representative of Saudi Arabia, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, said there was no reason to present the draft resolution as its content had been covered by a resolution previously submitted by the G77 and China. The resolution did not take into account the needs of the developing countries, including technology transfer requirements, financing and the elimination of obstacles created by agricultural commodities. There were many resolutions that requested Israel to refrain from its practice of occupation which were ignored by the occupying power.

Normally resolutions like  these are adopted by consensus. The Arab bloc requested the vote even though there was an automatic majority just from the cosponsors.

113 countries co-sponsored the resolution, the most that ever co-sponsored an Israeli draft resolution:

1 Albania 2 Andorra 3 Angola 4 Antigua and Barbuda 5 Argentina 6 Armenia 7 Australia 8 Austria 9 Azerbaijan 10 Belarus 11 Belgium 12 Belize 13 Benin 14 Bosnia and Herzegovina 15 Brazil 16 Bulgaria 17 Burkina Faso 18 Burundi 19 Cameroon 20 Canada 21 Chad 22 Chile 23 Colombia 24 Costa Rica 25 Cote D'Ivoire 26 Croatia 27 Cyprus 28 Czech Republic 29 Denmark 30 Dominican Republic

31 El Salvador 32 Equatorial Guinea 33 Eritrea 34 Estonia 35 Ethiopia 36 Finland 37 France 38 Georgia 39 Germany 40 Ghana 41 Greece 42 Grenada 43 Guatemala 44 Guinea 45 Guinea-Bissau 46 Guyana 47 Haiti 48 Honduras 49 Hungary 50 Iceland 51 India 52 Ireland 53 Israel 54 Italy 55 Jamaica 56 Japan 57 Kazakhstan 58 Kenya 59 Latvia 60 Liechtenstein 61 Lithuania

62 Luxembourg 63 Madagascar 64 Malta 65 Marshall Islands 66 Mexico 67 Micronesia 68 Monaco 69 Mongolia 70 Montenegro 71 Mozambique 72 Nauru 73 Nepal 74 Netherlands 75 New Zealand 76 Nigeria 77 Norway 78 Palau 79 Panama 80 Papua New Guinea 81 Paraguay 82 Peru 83 Poland 84 Portugal 85 Republic of Korea 86 Republic of Moldova 87 Romania 88 Rwanda 89 Saint Kitts and Nevis 90 Saint-Lucia 91 Samoa

92 San Marino 93 Serbia 94 Seychelles 95 Sierra Leone 96 Slovakia 97 Slovenia 98 South Sudan 99 Spain 100 Sri Lanka 101 Suriname 102 Sweden 103 Switzerland 104 Tajikistan 105 The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 106 Togo 107 Uganda 108 Ukraine 109 United Kingdom 110 United Republic of Tanzania 111 United States 112 Uruguay 113 Zambia

As far as the supposed Arab objections to the resolution, I asked Simonne Levavi, an expert on the topic and member of Israel’s mission to the U.N., whether they made any sense:

The representative of Saudi Arabia, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, said there was no reason to present the draft resolution because they claim agricultural technology is covered by another resolution submitted by the G77 and China, entitled 'Agriculture development and food security".

The truth is, that resolution was initiated after 2007, in an attempt to undermine the Israeli resolution. It is very general about agricultural technology and does not go into specifics.

The Arab Group also claimed that the resolution did not take into account the needs of developing countries, including technology transfer requirements. This claim is preposterous. The resolution clearly touches on the importance of supporting national efforts to foster utilization of local know-how and agricultural technologies in developing countries. It encourages international efforts to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to enhance the productivity and nutritional quality of food crops and animal products, to promote sustainable practices in pre-harvest and post-harvest agricultural activities and to enhance food security and nutrition-related programmes and policies that take into consideration the specific needs of women, young children and youth.

It was very clear that the Arab group was once again using this opportunity as a platform to demonize and delegitimize Israel.

Demanding a vote is unusual. Levavi told me that in the UN's economic and financial committee about 60 resolutions pass by consensus each year, with only about 4 that are submitted to a vote.

I also asked Levavi how this resolution could help Arab countries specifically:

The resolution on Agricultural Technology for Development focuses on capacity building, education and skills transfer – the essential building blocks of development. The vast potential of agricultural technology is proven through global initiatives already in place.

In recent years the people in the Arab World have been very vocal with their strong discontent with their social condition; people are hungry for change and thirsty for progress. Natural resources in most of these countries are abundant and highly unutilized; the possibilities are endless.

Last year Israel sponsored a resolution on entrepreneurship that had 97 co-sponsors and passed 131-31-11.