Ehud Barak Blames UNESCO Decision on Netanyahu

Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday told Israel's Channel 2 News that the UNESCO decision which denies the Jewish nation's historic connection to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall in Jerusalem was "Netanyahu's monumental failure on the international front." He blamed the prime minister for the fact that both China and Russia supported the resolution.

Haaretz suggested on Thursday that most of the Arab countries felt the resolution was too over the top, but had no choice but to support it, lest they be seen as not favoring the Palestinian Authority which pushed it. Both Russia and China obviously threw their weight on the Palestinian side to offset the American and Western vote against it.

Besides China and Russia, Netanyahu's "monumental failure" included his inability to influence the votes of Algeria,  Bangladesh, Brazil, Chad, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, and Vietnam.

In his brief term as prime minister (May 17, 1999 to February 6, 2001) Ehud Barak did not leave much of an impression abroad, distinguishing his rule solely by his hurried retreat from South Lebanon, abandoning Israel's Christian friends there. Apparently, Lebanon still voted for the UNESCO resolution…