B’nai B’rith International condemns the U.N. General Assembly’s (UNGA) request that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) address the legality of Israeli policies in Palestinian-claimed territories. The referral, endorsed by a UNGA committee in November, has now been rubberstamped by the assembly’s plenary.

The UNGA—in which Palestinians enjoy an automatic majority, including the overwhelming share of nearly 60 Arab and Muslim governments—annually passes more condemnations of the Jewish state than all other 192 U.N. member states.

True to form, the resolution referring Israel to the ICJ condemns Israeli actions in advance, even while soliciting the judicial “advisory opinion.” This singling out of the Middle East’s sole democracy, one continually forced to battle regional fanaticism and brutal terrorism, is deplorable. Representing more than politicization of legal instruments, and the diverting of resources and focus from truly critical global priorities, it seeks to delegitimize, indeed criminalize, only the presence of Jews in their one ancestral homeland.

The U.N. has failed to encourage censure and accountability for a single Palestinian misdeed. We must ask: Are no Palestinian actions, whether by the Palestinian Authority (called the State of Palestine by the U.N.) or Hamas and Islamic Jihad, deserving of greater scrutiny?

B’nai B’rith had asked member states to oppose this intolerable double standard—and we thank all those countries that refused to support it.

With a dedicated Office of United Nations Affairs, B’nai B’rith has led accredited Jewish engagement with the world body since 1945.