7 UN Resolutions Blocked by Washington’s Veto in Israel’s Favor

The U.S. veto was never merely a dissenting diplomatic vote, but rather a hanging sword with which Washington has crippled the will of the international community for decades to shield Israel from scrutiny and accountability. This bias reached its glaring peak during the recent genocidal war on the Gaza Strip following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, as the raised American hand aborted urgent humanitarian draft resolutions for a ceasefire.

1.    The 1972 Veto: The Birth of Diplomatic Impunity

Bloody retaliatory Israeli airstrikes targeted camps and civilian gatherings in Lebanon and Syria, leaving dozens of victims among women and children following the Munich operation.

The resolution’s sole demand was the 'immediate cessation of all military operations.' Despite the backing of 13 out of 15 states, the U.S. delegate, George H.W. Bush, raised his hand to cast the first American veto in favor of Tel Aviv in UN history, claiming the lack of an explicit condemnation of those he described as 'terrorists.' At that precise moment, the unwritten rule was established: Arab victims' blood carries no weight unless bartered for the condemnation of their resistance.

2.   The 1976 Veto: Quashing Self-Determination

With the growing international presence of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the international community sought to enshrine the most fundamental rights of peoples under occupation: the right to self-determination, the right of return, and the establishment of an independent state.

The resolution posed no existential threat to anyone; rather, it demanded justice for a displaced people in accordance with the UN Charter itself. Nine states backed the draft, yet Washington shot it down under the flimsy pretext that it 'disrupted the mechanisms of Resolution 242.' This veto proved early on that American diplomacy did not view the Palestinians as political rights-holders.

3.   The 1982 Veto: Unleashing Settlements Defiant of the Geneva Convention

A systematic crackdown in the occupied West Bank included the dismissal of elected Palestinian mayors and the seizure of vast tracts of land for settlers.

The text of the resolution came to remind the world that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies in letter and spirit to the occupied territories, criminalizing forced demographic change. Thirteen states voted in favor, with Britain abstaining, leaving Washington standing entirely alone wielding the veto; an absolute green light from the Reagan administration for Israeli bulldozers to devour what remained of the land without fear of any international deterrent.

4.   The 2004 Veto: Justifying the Assassination of a Wheelchair-Bound Sheikh

Missiles from U.S.-made Israeli Apache helicopters tore through the body of the wheelchair-bound Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and seven worshippers as they exited dawn prayers in Gaza, in one of the most heinous extrajudicial executions.

As a horrified shock swept the globe over the bloody assassination, 11 states voted to condemn the crime; yet U.S. envoy John Negroponte cast the veto, deeming the resolution 'one-sided' because it did not designate Hamas as a terrorist organization. This moral collapse reflected the pinnacle of American disregard for human life whenever spilled Palestinian blood is at stake.

5.   The 2011 Veto: Defying Global Consensus

A frenzied settlement expansion swallowing Jerusalem and the West Bank, amid an international attempt to salvage the so-called 'two-state solution' by criminalizing settlements, deeming them illegal, and a major obstacle to peace.

The incident went down as one of the council's most embarrassing moments for Washington; 14 out of 15 states (including Washington’s traditional allies: France, Britain, and Germany) voted in favor of the resolution. Even though the Obama administration had publicly repeated that settlements were illegitimate, Ambassador Susan Rice cast the lone veto to shield Netanyahu.

6.   The 2017 Veto: Shameful Isolation Defending the Judaization of Jerusalem

Donald Trump's infuriating declaration recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving his country's embassy there, brushing aside seventy years of international resolutions that consider the city's status unresolved.

Exactly 14 states voted against the American decision, affirming the nullity of any action altering the identity of the Holy City. At that point, Nikki Haley arrogantly wielded the veto, describing the world’s unanimous vote as 'an insult that won’t be forgotten.' Washington sided with the occupation’s expansionist illusions, disregarding the sentiments of millions of Arabs, Muslims, and Christians around the world.

7.   The 2024 Veto: Direct Complicity in Genocide and Starvation

Five months into the horrors of relentless U.S.-backed aggression on Gaza following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood; over thirty thousand martyrs, children's bodies trapped beneath the rubble, a looming famine, and hospitals turned into mass graves.