"Remember when the new Germany was keen to put its historical baggage behind it and be Israel's best friend in Europe?
That was then. Now Berlin is set to block a historic chance for raising the Jewish state's international profile.
The issue is a fight for seats on the top UN body, the Security Council. Germany, a major UN donor, mover and shaker, serves on it often. Israel, frequently singled out for international criticism, never has. Until now, in fact, Israel was the only UN member who wasn't eligible for a seat...
But now it is, and in June UN members will choose which countries will take two available council seats next year: Germany, Belgium or Israel. Needless to say, Jerusalem is least likely to win.
Here's how it works: Regional groups present candidates for approval by all UN members. But after joining the UN in 1949, Israel was its only member rejected by all regional groups...
So it set eyes on a UN bloc known as the Western Europeans and Other Group... In late 1990s, one of America's most astute modern diplomats, then-UN ambassador Richard Holbrooke, finally succeeded in adding Israel to the group. To placate Israel's critics, Israel's candidacy for UN bodies would be phased in slowly - it would have to wait two decades before being eligible for a council seat. As a good-faith gesture, the group promised Israel that it and Belgium would run uncontested for the two open 2019-20 seats.
Then, in 2016, Germany announced it would also run - even though it already served as a council member as recently as 2011-12...
Diplomats have been telling me Israel violates too many Security Council resolutions to be a member... But is building a porch in Maale Edumim really such a huge threat to world peace?
How about, then, a report released last week by UN experts on the Security Council's North Korea sanctions? It found Germany violated a council ban on sparkling wines, exporting $151,840 worth of bubbly and other luxury goods to Kim Jong-un's cronies. Or how about ... German companies exporting to Iran banned materials that were later used in chemical attacks in Syria?
Never mind. Germany (and Belgium) will surely benefit from the UN's habit of magnifying Israel's violations beyond all proportion. Thus, Israel's petition to join the most prestigious UN club will likely be rejected, thanks to a late entry by a shameless, clueless, cynical German power play against the Jewish state."