Bahrain, UAE vote against Israel sponsored UN entrepreneurship resolution

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain voted against an Israeli sponsored resolution on entrepreneurship for sustainable development yesterday at the UN General Assembly’s Second Committee.

This comes despite the countries being quick to act on new business partnerships with Israel following the signing of normalisation deals with the occupation, including by establishing direct flights and the opening of embassies before the end of the year.

The Gulf nations became the third and fourth Arab countries to establish diplomatic relations with Israel after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.

The deals have drawn widespread condemnation from Palestinians, who say the accords ignore their rights and do not serve the Palestinian cause.

According to the Jerusalem Post, yesterday’s UN resolution passed 144-26.

There were nine abstentions which included Turkey and South Africa while Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia were among the Arab countries that voted against the resolution.

READ: Bahrain delegation heads to Israel on Gulf Air flight

Following the sponsorship of this resolution, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said that “today’s resolution is a great victory for Israel and for all countries that care about the future.”

He continued: “It addresses the steps we need to take so that every country can enjoy the benefits of innovation and build a sustainable and inclusive economy. And despite attempts to sabotage it, it was adopted with an overwhelming majority.”

However, Mauritania accused Israel of being disingenuous due the violent measures the occupying state takes to prevent Palestinian development such as the destruction of infrastructure.

“The occupation also violates numerous human rights of the Palestinian people,” the country said. It added that “Israel as an occupying power is not in the position to table such a resolution.”