Note To Beck: Unlike Obama, The Reagan Administration Voted To Condemn Israel

Written by Adam Shah

Published

During a segment in which Glenn Beck compared Israel to the besieged defenders of the Alamo and issued a “plea” asking for people to “come to the aid of” Israel against its existential enemies (including perennial Beck bogeyman George Soros) Beck asked:

Where is another [Lt. Col. at the Alamo] William Travis or a Davy Crockett or a George Washington? I've been looking for one for a while. People are asking, as I have been, “Where is he? Where is Reagan? Where is Churchill? Where is anyone standing up daily for freedom and making the case?' The answer is what it always has been. It's you.

To put this in context, Beck has adopted the crazy conspiracy theory that President Obama, Soros, and others on the left may be planning military action against Israel.

But here's a short quiz to contemplate while you watch the video of Beck's remarks: Under which president did the United States vote in favor of a Security Council resolution to “condemn” Israel? A. Barack Obama B. Beck's hero, Ronald Reagan

The answer: B. President Reagan.

The United States is, of course, a permanent member of the Security Council, and, as such, is entitled to a veto any resolution that comes before that body. On June 19, 1981, the Security Council voted unanimously with no abstentions for UN Security Council Resolution 487 (available here), which stated that the “Security Council ... Strongly condemns the military attack by Israel [against Iraq] in clear violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the norms of international conduct.”

At the time, The New York Times reported that Reagan's U.N. ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick believed that “Israel warranted condemnation”:

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, the American delegate, said that Israel warranted condemnation for failing to exhaust all diplomatic recourses to deal with its concern that Iraq would build a nuclear bomb. ''The means Israel chose to quiet its fears have hurt, and not helped, the peace and security of the area,'' she said.

By contrast, in February, President Obama's administration vetoed a Security Council resolution that would have condemned Israeli settlement activity.