Leading members of Congress have recently sent letters and introduced bills threatening to cut UN funding if the General Assembly votes to support a possible Palestinian move to reject Israel’s credentials to participate in that body.

Surprisingly, neither the letters nor the bills mention that U.S. law already requires the U.S. to slash UN funding if Israel’s participation is halted. The best way to deter the General Assembly from taking such an outrageous step is to make it clear that U.S. defunding is not a mere possibility, dependent on the bills passing, but a certainty.

Buried deep in the statutory notes section of the U.S. code is a legally binding provision, passed in 1983, which specifies that “[i]f Israel is illegally expelled, suspended, denied its credentials, or in any other manner denied its right to participate in any principal or subsidiary organ or in any specialized, technical, or other agency of the United Nations, the United States shall suspend its participation in any such organ or agency until the illegal action is reversed.” The provision adds that “[t]he United States shall reduce its annual assessed contribution to the United Nations or such specialized........

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