UN Economic and Social Council Resolutions on Israel and Women

Global women’s rights matters regarding occupation and conflict lead the regular agenda of United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) resolutions. Many discussions focus on ‌resolutions from the United Nations Economic and Social Council addressing the situation of Palestinian women under Israeli administration. The resolutions demonstrate that gender equality works together with geopolitical factors as well as international humanitarian law.

The Economic and Social Council approved a resolution in 2020 that named Israel as the main barrier preventing Palestinian women from attaining independence and social development alongside personal advancement. The resolution showed that human rights violations conducted by Israel as an occupying force impact women and girls the most severely.

Following 2020, the United Nations adopted additional resolutions that continued to identify Israeli occupation as a substantial barrier blocking Palestinian women from upholding their human rights.

In 2020, the resolution that condemned Israel gained 43 votes while receiving 3 votes against and obtaining 8 abstentions. The resolution received support from 40 countries and faced opposition from 6 nations and 4 countries abstained from voting. Most members of the Group of 77 and China endorse these resolutions yet the United States, together with Canada and Australia, typically cast opposing votes.

Criticism of the focus of ECOSOC

Some critics note that the ECOSOC chooses to overlook gender discrimination practices in other nations but it directs unwarranted criticism toward Israel. These types of resolutions have never appeared in countries that systematically discriminate against females, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran. The selected nature of this approach challenges the political motivation behind human rights organizations dealing with women’s rights.

The ECOSOC has explicitly announced through various resolutions the mistreatment Palestinian women experience at the hands of Israel. According to a resolution made by the ECOSOC in 2020, Israel committed a “major obstacle” to Palestinian women’s growth, independence, and social integration. 

The text highlighted how human rights violations by Israel as an occupying force specifically affect women and girls disproportionately. The United Nations passed additional similar resolutions starting in 2023, which emphasized that Palestinian women face significant obstacles to their rights because of the continuing Israeli occupation.

These resolutions tend to face strong differences of opinion among voters. Among the votes taken on the resolution that denounces Israel in 2020, there were 43 in favor and 3 against, along with 8 abstentions. During the 2022 session, the resolution earned 40 supporting votes and collected 6 votes against it and 4 members chose abstention. The resolutions rarely account for Palestinian Authority and Hama’s involvement in running their territories nor social barriers within the Palestinian community while blaming Israeli occupation as the sole reason for Palestinian women’s challenges.

Palestinian women must face various challenges as a result of the ongoing conflict because they have restricted access to healthcare and education while enduring economic instability from land seizures and restricted movement and experiencing psychological trauma from displacement and violence. Palestinian women work continuously to defend their rights despite facing the many obstacles before them. National plans for gender equality in peacebuilding have been established and abuses are documented through frameworks including UNSCR 1325.

The international community adopted UNSCR 1325 in 2000 to demand female involvement in peace negotiations while recognizing the unequal effect of conflicts on women. Although the resolution fails to charge Israel for the reported mistreatment of Palestinian women, it does not establish methods for Palestine to implement its recommendations. The Palestinian activist community views UNSCR 1325 as their main tool for highlighting gender-based violence that occurs as a result of military occupation.

International enforcement of law becomes visible when countries focus solely on Israel because of its irregular treatment. Many countries operating with significant human rights violations manage to evade accountability but Israel consistently faces scrutiny. The unequal treatment directed toward Israel negatively impacts global mechanisms that protect women’s rights. International organizations need to create equal standards that condemn every nation that breaks women’s rights to achieve fair treatment. Total resolution efficiency requires detailing fundamental problems instead of focusing exclusively on geopolitical accounts.

Perception of bias

A significant portion of Israel enjoys the opinion that ECOSOC resolutions produce unbalanced judgments that disproportionately target Israel instead of addressing human rights violations throughout the world. The Israeli government provided statements of apology regarding the Council’s observation of Israel yet maintained its rejection of other important global issues.

The Israeli government and population view most ECOSOC resolutions as non-relevant to their national defense issues and disregard ‌security threats against Israel. Israeli authorities emphasize to UN bodies how vehicle bombers and suicide bombers affect Israeli society at length without sufficient consideration during ECOSOC meetings.

The Israeli public takes a negative view of UN resolutions because Israel refuses to recognize them as meaningful documents despite its repeated rejection of them. There are no enforcement procedures or clear consequences linked to ECOSOC resolutions, which strengthens this perspective.

The Israeli government receives support for its rejection of UN resolutions because its citizens view these measures as elements in a wider campaign against Israel’s reputation abroad. Israel defends its self-defense rights through official statements that also explain diplomatic efforts despite ongoing roadblocks. Locally, Israelis consider ECOSOC resolutions to be unhelpful because these legislative texts reflect structural problems between Israel and the UN.

The Israeli public routinely condemns UN resolutions because they interpret these measures as fundamentally neutral. Leading Israeli political figures have criticized the UN when it focuses on Israeli human rights problems while ignoring other countries under UN Human Rights Council resolutions. Multiple Israelis maintain the opinion that the UN displays an anti-Israel bias yet no protests are observed regarding resolutions from the ECOSOC. This belief causes widespread public backing of national government decisions that silence UN statements.

Occasionally Israeli citizens, together with members of the government, express their opposition to different UN statements and initiatives. Israel demonstrated its discontent regarding perceived UN bias by having its UN ambassador Gilad Erdan destroy a UN Charter in 2024.

Control and repression at home

Egypt cracks down on Palestinian demonstrations while pursuing its main goal of suppressing all forms of political protest across the nation. Licenses for demonstrations remain restricted by the government since they seek to prevent demonstrations from becoming extreme threats to their operational stability. Egyptian police have imprisoned numerous activists after they took part in demonstrations in support of Palestinian causes. 

The Rafah gate as Egypt’s solitary operating crossing makes Egyptian control the key factor in resolving the current Gaza situation. Being situated in this strategic position gives Egypt the power to control humanitarian assistance flows while maintaining an influential status in Hamas-Israel diplomatic talks. The Middle Eastern conflicts have long been mediated by Egypt, which continues to work with other nations to supervise Gaza’s humanitarian conditions.

Egypt’s indecisive position regarding Israel and Palestine

Egypt maintains dual support for Israel and Palestinian civilians because its diplomatic relations with Israel are strong but popular support for Palestinians remains firm. The Egyptian government participates with Israel in security matters while actively defending Palestinian rights but also performs mission coordination to stop large refugee movements into the Sinai Peninsula. 

The Egyptian initiative shows detailed elements of Gaza reconstruction that combine engineering work security force development and Palestinian restoration leadership in reconstruction commands. The current project aims to stabilize Gaza by maintaining its current populace instead of implementing previous depopulation strategies.