Prime Minister Chrisopher Luxon speaking at Parliament today Video / Marty Melville.
Just three hours after New Zealand issued an unprecedented statement with Five Eyes partners Canada and Australia on the situation in Gaza, all three went further in the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, supporting a resolution for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.
The UN vote came after widespread dissatisfaction with theUnited States’ decision to veto a similar resolution at the UN Security Council, and received overwhelming support from 153 out of 193 member countries, with just 10 against.
New Zealand’s permanent representative was blunt, not only at the scale of the crisis but the inability of the international community to address it.
“We are deeply disappointed that the casting of a veto yet again prevented the Security Council from agreeing on a response to a pressing crisis,” said Carolyn Schwalger.
“The General Assembly has, once again, had to take action where the Security Council has failed to do so.”
The full resolution expressed “grave concern over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population”, and said Palestinians and Israelis must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law.
It demanded that all parties comply with international humanitarian law, “notably with regard to the protection of civilians”, and called for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access”.
Palestinian United Nations Ambassador Riyad Mansour (right) speaks during a press conference ahead of the UN General Assembly vote on a resolution calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Photo / AP
The resolution did not mention Hamas, whose militants killed about 1200 people and abducted about 240 in the surprise attack inside Israel on October 7 that set off the war. New Zealand supported two amendments that would have done so, but these were voted down.
Regarding the three nations’ Five Eyes intelligence network allies, the United Kingdom again abstained this time while the United States again voted against.
The wide-ranging joint statement by New Zealand, Australia and Canada used softer language around calling for a resumption of the “humanitarian pause” and “efforts” towards, rather than an immediate, ceasefire.
But it also outlined a path to peace, not only condemning the actions of Hamas and raising concerns about the humanitarian crisis and deaths of Palestinian civilians from Israel’s bombing, but criticising Israel’s illegal settlements and affirming the Palestinian right to statehood.
The difference in language between the UN resolution and the joint statement appeared designed to offer a gentle push, a middle ground, to those more powerful members of the Five Eyes network - particularly the US - to put more pressure on Israel.
It might seem unlikely that New Zealand, a country of a little over five million people and with a military might punching even lower than its weight, could influence one of the world’s superpowers.
But being alongside Australia and Canada in making this joint statement not only increasingly casts the United States as an international outlier, but also gives it a middle-ground option.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Photo / Mark Mitchell
New Zealand has long touted its independent foreign policy approach, and this has been apparent in the ongoing Israel and Palestine conflict.
In 2017 the National-led Government, while a member of the United Nations Security Council, sponsored a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in Palestine.
It was a rare resolution passed, with the United States opting to abstain rather than veto it. Israel retaliated strongly, recalling its ambassador from New Zealand.
New Zealand worked long and hard on that resolution which, after much negotiation, saw the United States agree not to veto it - a middle ground of sorts, and it appears the joint statement is a continuation of this approach.
Some will be wondering why it’s taken this long, why nearly 20,000 Palestinians and 1200 Israelis needed to have died before it came to this.
In making this joint statement, New Zealand is using that international credibility as an independent voice to add more weight to Australia and Canada, which are typically seen to side more closely with the United States.
The United States is the key playmaker in this conflict. It provides Israel with billions of dollars in military support each year in return for a staunch ally in one of the most strategically important locations on the planet.
While the call with Australia and Canada does not end with what New Zealand would ultimately like to see - an immediate ceasefire - it provides a middle-ground option the United States could support, a resumption of the humanitarian pause while a more permanent ceasefire is negotiated.
It also casts the United States as increasingly out of step with the rest of the world, without completely isolating it.
It appears, at least initially, US President Joe Biden is taking notice, as he used much stronger language than usual in warning before the vote that Israel was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza.
The United States holds the power here. It cannot be seen to be going too hard on its ally Israel, but now New Zealand, along with Australia and Canada, has given it another potential approach.
