The U.S. would be in breach of its commitment to not back one-sided anti-Israel resolutions, a senior Israeli official said today, if the administration were to allow an Egyptian-proposed resolution on settlements to pass this afternoon at the United Nations Security Council.
Israel’s security cabinet was holding an urgent meeting in Jerusalem just ahead of the expected vote.
“We hope America doesn’t breach its longstanding commitment to advance peace through negotiations,” a senior official told The Times of Israel, speaking on condition of anonymity, hours before the vote. “If they don’t veto, it will be a last gasp by the Obama administration, as they expect policy to change with the new [Trump] administration.
“We hope President Obama stays true to his words in 2011 that peace won’t come through statements at the U.N.”
At his speech to the UN General Assembly in September 2011, Mr. Obama declared: “Peace is hard work. Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the United Nations — if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now.”
Over the last few months, as Jerusalem prepared for a possible anti-Israel resolution at the Security Council, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu often quoted that passage from Mr. Obama’s speech, insisting that the White House block any effort to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace effort via international forums.
Draft of Anti-Settlement Document
“The U.S. should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the U.N. Security Council,” Mr. Netanyahu tweeted early today.
Last night, in a surprise move, Egypt — which currently holds a non-permanent seat and represents the Arab Group in the Council — circulated a draft that will be voted on this afternoon.
The most recent draft of the resolution, subject to change due to last-minute negotiations, calls on Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.”
It further expresses “grave concern that continuing Israeli settlement activities are dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution.” It calls on all states “to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967,” which some analysts say invites boycotts of Israeli settlements goods.
On the other hand, the draft also condemns “all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation, incitement and destruction,” which some in the international community understand as turning the resolution into a “balanced” text.
Top Israeli officials are speaking out today against the resolution, urging the U.S. administration to veto it.
Education Minister Naftali Bennett, in a video message, called the U.N. Security Council meeting a “record in hypocrisy” in light of the slaughter in Syria, and said those who support it are backing “the bad guys” and “the forces of evil.”
“Just a short plane ride from here, in Aleppo, there is a genocide going on,” he said. “Yet the U.N. Security Council is going to convene to tell us not to build a house here in Jerusalem, pave a road, open up a kindergarten. That is from the U.N. Security Council’s perspective, the No. 1 issue…
“We expect the decent free world to support the world’s No. 1 fighter against radical terror, Israel.”
“We expect our greatest friend not to let such a one-sided and anti-Israel resolution pass,” Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon said. “A resolution like this won’t advance any [peace] process, but will only serve as a prize by the U.N. for the Palestinian policy of incitement and terror.”
“Whoever truly supports peace must reject this resolution and all other contemptible efforts to promote a boycott against Israel through the United Nations,” Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan said. “President Obama and many U.S. states already passed legislation opposing any form of boycotts. I call on the American administration to veto this resolution immediately.”
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said that backing the Palestinians at the U.N. would harden their “extremist positions” and distance peace.
“We expect from the United States, our friends, to cast a veto, since such resolutions damage any future chances of reaching an agreement.”
This story originated at www.thetimesofisrael.com
