All Eyes on Schumer

In respect of Ambassador Bolton, all eyes are on Senator Schumer, who has reportedly been sounding out his fellow Democrats in the wake of President Bush's decision to stick with our embattled envoy at the United Nations. This is going to have to be dealt with between now and the end of the 109th Congress. It is hard to imagine that Mr. Schumer can be unaffected by the kind of fidelity Mr. Bolton has shown to the kinds of things Mr. Schumer and his constituents feel are important in respect of Israel. Mr. Bolton's eloquence, his commitment, his idealism on this point was never more apparent than in the ambassador's speech Friday, a copy of which was passed along to us by the editor of eyeontheun.org, Anne Bayefsky.

Mr. Bolton's words rank right up there with the best of Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Jeane Kirkpatrick as far as an unambiguous defense of Israel at the world body. Explaining why America would vote against a one-sided anti-Israel resolution at the General Assembly, Mr. Bolton said, "this type of resolution serves only to exacerbate tensions by serving the interests of elements hostile to Israel's inalienable and recognized right to exist. In so doing, it deepens suspicions about the United Nations that will lead many to conclude that the organization is incapable of playing a helpful role in the region."

Then Mr. Bolton brought his famed directness to bear on the broader question. "This problem of anti-Israel," he said, "is endemic to the culture of the United Nations. It is a decades-old, systemic problem that transcends the whole panoply of UN organizations and agencies. Beyond the General Assembly, the Security Council, and the Human Rights Council, the sponsors of today's resolution have diverted the efforts of non-political UN bodies such as UNESCO, the International Telecommunications Union, the International Postal Union, and the International Labor Organization with one-sided polemics irrelevant and indeed harmful to the non-political mandates of these agencies, and unhelpful to the cause of the Palestinian people and regional peace."

Mr. Bolton said: "These efforts serve only to erode the credibility of the United Nations and undermine the goal of resolving the underlying conflict." He pointed out, "The consequences of this persistent, unconstructive, biased approach are painfully clear — not one single Palestinian is helped and the United Nations continues to be discredited by its inability to confront the serious challenge of the Israel-Palestinian conflict in a serious, responsible manner." Senator Schumer knows the truth of Mr. Bolton's words. It is hard to think of a single thing Mr. Schumer could do with his extraordinary new power that would be so unifying as to swing behind the confirmation of Mr. Bolton so that he can carry on the fight in which so many New Yorkers are cheering him.