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This paper examines the positions of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council vis-à-vis the Palestinian issue between 1979 and 2013. Using the voting patterns of the US, Russia/former USSR, United Kingdom, France, and China in international bodies, this paper – with a focus on the US as leader of the current international system—examines the points at which international law and foreign policy overlap and intersect. This contributes a wider theoretical understanding of the positions of major powers in international organizations.

As the first study to address the very recent issue “secret evidence,” this paper relies on primary and unstudied sources. It reviews the context of recent changes in the European justice system and the impact Hamas has left in filing its petition to have the group lifted from the list of terrorist groups in late 2010. The political dimension in the new law is also considered, including how it was given a legal guise to appear consistent with the requirement of justice. The timid international legal positions and reactions to these developments, the role played by the US and Britain, as well as the mimicry of Israel with regard to the secret evidence law are also discussed. The study concludes by tackling the implications of the new law, and the possibility of Hamas succeeding or failing to have itself removed from the terror list.