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Israel-Gaza war: why did Pacific nations side with US on UN ceasefire vote while some allies sought ‘daylight’?
- Only a handful of nations, including ones the US has promised billions in aid, joined it in rejecting a UN resolution calling for a truce
- The divisions reflect concerns about US foreign policy, analysts say – as Washington undermines value-based diplomacy by excusing ‘Israel’s excesses’
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Two contrasting patterns of voting emerged among the United States’ Asia-Pacific partners over a United Nations resolution on the Israel-Gaza war – reflecting what analysts have interpreted as the desire of some US allies to put an “increasing amount of daylight” between themselves and Washington, even as a handful of Pacific nations backed its pro-Israel stance.
The nonbinding resolution, which was drafted by 22 Arab countries and calls for an immediate humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities, was adopted by the UN General Assembly on Friday by a vote of 120 to 14 with 45 abstentions.
Among the countries that voted against a ceasefire were Israel and the US, joined by Fiji, Tonga, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru and Papua New Guinea.
Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau, in particular, have a history of aligning with the US at the UN, and some have suggested that this is due to their “Compacts of Free Association” with Washington, but more importantly, because also of the American aid they receive. The US has committed a total of US$7.1 billion to the three nations over the next 20 years, Reuters reported in May. Palau abstained from the October 27 vote.
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Frank Bainimarama, Fiji’s former prime minister who lost power in December after 16 years in charge, criticised his country’s decision to vote against the resolution, telling New Zealand media it “did not reflect the view of most Fijians” and flew in the face of the nation’s traditional commitments to building and maintaining peace.
Other Pacific states, including New Zealand and Solomon Islands, gave the resolution their backing, which “suggests a limit to American influence on the Middle East security situation in that part of the world”, said Marc Lanteigne, an associate professor of political science and international relations at the University of Tromsø in Norway.
There is, he said, an “increasing amount of daylight between Washington and its Asia-Pacific partners over how best to stop this conflict”.
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