It was only after Israel had taken Palestine that the United Nations turned to being critical of Israel. Israel's honeymoon period with the United Nations ended as the United Nations came to be populated by formerly colonial territories. The newly independent states had an instinctive feel for the situation of the Palestine Arabs, viewing Israel as a European implant. Like the older Third World governments at the United Nations, they were skeptical of Israeli factual claims. After the 1967 war, Israel would increasingly find itself at odds with the United Nations. Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank was regarded in a negative light, even if the Security Council in Resolution 242 seemed to accept Israel's tenure there at least temporarily. It was Israel's practices in the Gaza Strip and West Bank that created the divide between Israel and the United Nations. Israel was criticized repeatedly by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The General Assembly set up an investigate body to examine Israel's treatment of the Arab populations of the Gaza Strip and West Bank. It was called the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories. That committee castigated Israel for civilian settlements, interrogation practices, deportations, and house demolitions, under the rubric of the body of law that requires a belligerent occupant to give fair treatment to a population under its control.

“ANTI-ISRAELISM”

Beyond focusing on occupation practices, the UN General Assembly set up a committee to explore ways to effectuate Palestine Arab sovereignty. It was called the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. A Division for Palestinian Rights was set up to publicize UN activities in support of self-determination for the Palestine Arabs. When the Palestine Liberation Organization was formed, it was accepted at the United Nations in an observer capacity. As various UN bodies scrutinized Israel's conduct, Israel reacted to protect itself. When the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories tried to visit Israel to collect information, Israel refused.

In 1984, Shabtai Rosenne cited positions adopted at the United Nations adverse to Israel and declared that “the United Nations is today one of the principal propagators of naked anti-Semitism in the world.”