Ex-UN official debunks myth about Israel's 'right to exist'

A former United Nations official has torn into an oft-repeated argument by Zionist supporters that Israel has a right to exist, describing it as "fallacious" and a distortion of historical and legal realities.

"Conceptually or legally, no such natural or legal right exists– for Israel or any other state – as the establishment of nation- states is not rooted in international law. Nation-states are the outcome of, ultimately,a proclamation by those purporting to represent the newly formed state," Moncef Khane said in an article published recently  by several media outlets, including Al Jazeera.

Khane, who once worked in the executive office of former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, said that any new state existed by virtue of "a political fact and not a legal act", adding that governments could decide whether or not to recognise it.

He said that while a state must be recognised diplomatically in order to function as a legal and political entity, it continues to exist without such recognition.

Khane also rejected a statement by French President Emmanuel Macron last month that Israel was established by a UN decision, referring to to the 1947 UN General Assembly’s Resolution 181(II).

"This often-shared misconception is a distortion of historical and legal realities," he said.

He said the resolution on the "Future Government of Palestine" did not create the state of Israel, but proposed a plan to divide British-occupied Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state and the city of Jerusalem under a special international administration.

He recalled that the vote on the resolution took place under pressure from Zionist lobbies in Europe.

"But remarkably, the US itself was also threatened as President Harry Truman recalled in his memoirs: 'I do not think I ever had as much pressure and propaganda aimed at the White House as I had in this instance. The persistence of a few of the extreme Zionist leaders – actuated by political motives and engaging in political threats – disturbed and annoyed me'," he wrote.

He said that although the resolution was narrowly adopted by a margin of two votes, it was never endorsed by the Security Council and was therefore never binding under international law.

The proclamation of the state of Israel by David Ben-Gurion in 1948 followed massive Jewish migration to Palestine, ethnic cleansing and land grab by Zionist groups, who committed a string of massacres and displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Muslims and Christians.

Israel's existence and its "right to self-defence" are at the heart of the debate on the Palestinian question and are often cited by Zionist supporters in the West to justify the genocide in Gaza, in which more than 50,000 people have been killed so far.

More recently, a controversy arose this week after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim angered Palestinian activists when he agreed that Israel has a right to exist.

In an interview with CNN, Anwar criticised the Western media for spreading a one-sided narrative that ignores the occupation of Palestinian territories, before being interrupted by CNN's Richard Quest with two questions.

Quest: But you would accept a) Israel's right to exist.
Anwar: Yes, yes.
Quest: And b) Israel's right to defend itself.
Anwar: Yes.

His answers not only contradict the Malaysian government's decades-long policy of not recognising the Zionist state, but also brought to mind a statement he made more than two decades ago that he would "support all efforts to protect the security of the state of Israel".

Some in Israel have described Anwar as more "open" and "friendly" towards the Zionist state than previous Malaysian prime ministers, most notably Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whom Israeli politicians have labelled an "anti-Semite".

"Despite his mixed record, (Anwar) Ibrahim is certainly more open to Israel than the hard-line Mahathir, which could potentially provide an opening for Israel to improve relations to some degree," said a commentary in the Israeli daily Haaretz, just days after Anwar was sworn in in December 2022.