The 13-member bloc, led by Germany, voted against the Division of Palestinian Rights • Israeli U.N. mission calls for the recognition of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran.

By JNS

Thirteen countries changed their voting pattern at the United Nations on Tuesday, voting against an annual resolution that supports a pro-Palestinian U.N. agency.

Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Lithuania, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Brazil and Colombia, which usually abstain, voted against the resolution regarding the Division of Palestinian Rights at the UN Secretariat, the Israeli media reported. The United Kingdom, France and Spain abstained.

The resolution, co-sponsored by Comoros, Cuba, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, still passed with a vote of  87-54, with 23 abstentions.

However, according to the U.N. Watch NGO, five anti-Israel resolutions did pass in the General Assembly in a full-day session connected to the United Nations’ “Palestine Day,” held on Nov. 29.

In one vote, on a resolution demanding that Israel withdraw from the Golan Heights, the margin was wide, with 91 in favor to nine against, with 65 abstentions. Brazil changed its vote from “yes” last year to “no” this year, while the United Kingdom again voted “no” this year, according to U.N. Watch.

Separately, Israel’s U.N. mission is calling for the recognition of Jewish refugees who had to flee Arab countries and Iran in the latter half of the 20th century.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon announced on Tuesday that he intends to submit a resolution recognizing Jewish refugees from Arab countries, according to a report in The Jerusalem Post.

“There were an estimated 850,000 Jews who were forced out of Arab countries and Iran and became refugees in the 20th century,” said Danon.

“These Jews were subject to brutal attacks and harassment and were forced to flee, leaving everything behind: in Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, Iran, and many other countries. And still, we don’t hear the international community speak of them when they discuss the refugees of the conflict, perhaps because it doesn’t serve the Palestinian narrative,” he said.

“Israel took in these refugees and integrated them into our society,” he added.