NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called a Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements and demanding an immediate end to new construction “a significant step” to reconfirm the vision of a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
Ban said Friday’s 14-0 vote, with the United States abstaining, demonstrates the Security Council’s “much-needed leadership and the international community’s collective efforts” that are critical to demonstrate a two-state solution where Israel and the Palestinians live side by side in peace “is still achievable.”
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Ban is encouraging Israeli and Palestinian leaders to work with the international community “to create a conducive environment for a return to meaningful negotiations.”
Dujarric said the United Nations is ready to support efforts to reach this goal.
The Palestinian UN ambassador said the vote “is significant after years of paralysis” and a step toward addressing “a 70-year open wound” that has prevented peace and stability in the region.
Riyad Mansour told the council that Israel’s settlements and its separation wall “have severely fragmented our land, undermined its contiguity, and isolated east Jerusalem,” which the Palestinians want as the capital of an independent state.
He said urgent steps are needed now “to reverse the dangerous, negative trends on the ground and to advance our collective efforts to end the Israeli occupation that began in 1967.”
The resolution demands an immediate halt to Israeli settlement building, and Mansour said that will require “vigilant follow-up if it is to be meaningful, to stem further deterioration and salvage the two-state solution from relegation to history’s archives.”
He urged the council to “stand firm by this decision” and “not be cowed by negative threats or spin.”
Israel’s UN ambassador, however, called the vote “a victory for terror” and warning that it will not lead to peace. Danny Danon told the council that the resolution was full of “lies” and will be added “to the long and shameful list of anti-Israel UN resolutions.”
Israeli PM vows action
Meanwhile, Israel’s prime minister is taking diplomatic action against the countries that cosponsored the resolution.
Prime Minister Benjamin ordered Israel’s ambassadors in New Zealand and Senegal to immediately return home for consultations. He also instructed the Foreign Ministry to end all aid programs for Senegal and to cancel a planned visit to Israel by the Senegalese foreign minister.
New Zealand determined
New Zealand said the resolution should have come as no surprise to Israel, after Israel retaliated by recalling its ambassador to Wellington.
New Zealand cosponsored the resolution. New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the decision should have been no surprise to Israel which knew Wellington’s position long before the UN vote. “Israel has informed us of their decision to recall their ambassador to New Zealand for consultations.”
“We have been very open about our view that the (Security Council) should be doing more to support the Middle East peace process and the position we adopted today is totally in line with our long-established policy on the Palestinian question.
Malaysia and Venezuela also sponsored the UN resolution but do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
Bipartisan history
US Ambassador Samantha Power said the Obama administration was delivering the same message that his Republican and Democratic predecessors have been sending for nearly five decades when it allowed the UN Security Council to condemn Israeli settlements as “a flagrant violation” of international law — that Israel must stop building settlements.
Power told the council that then Republican president Ronald Reagan said in 1982: “The United States will not support the use of any additional land for the purpose of settlements...”
She said: “President Reagan’s words highlight the United States’ longstanding position that Israel settlement activity in territories occupied in 1967 undermines Israel’s security, harms the viability of a negotiated two-state outcome, and erodes prospects for peace and stability in the region.”
She noted that since 1967, the only US president who had not had at least one Israeli-Palestinian-related Security Council resolution passed during his tenure was Barack Obama.
“So our vote today is fully in line with the bipartisan history of how American presidents have approached both the issue and the role of this body,” Power said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement that the US acted with one primary objective in mind — to preserve the possibility of the two-state solution, which every US administration for decades has agreed is the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
“Two states is the only way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state, living in peace and security with its neighbors, and freedom and dignity for the Palestinian people. That future is now in jeopardy, with terrorism, violence and incitement continuing and unprecedented steps to expand settlements being advanced by avowed opponents of the two-state solution. That is why we cannot in good conscience stand in the way of a resolution that makes clear that both sides must act now to preserve the possibility of peace.”
Jordan welcomed the “historic” resolution, saying the momentous vote paved a way for a two-state solution. “This historic decision expresses the consensus of the international community on the illegality of Israeli settlements and reaffirms the Palestinian people’s historic right (to live) in Jerusalem and its historic lands,” Jordan’s information minister Mohammad Al-Momani said.
Momani said the resolution reinforced the historic position of Jordan — one of the few Arab states to have diplomatic ties with Israel — on the need for a two-state solution.
Hamas said the resolution marked an “important evolution.”
“Hamas appreciates the position of the countries that voted in the Security Council for the right of the Palestinian people (to live) on their land,” said Hamas spokesman Fawzy Barhoum.
“We salute this important evolution in international positions,” he said, while calling for more such actions to bring about “the end of the occupation.”
Ban said Friday’s 14-0 vote, with the United States abstaining, demonstrates the Security Council’s “much-needed leadership and the international community’s collective efforts” that are critical to demonstrate a two-state solution where Israel and the Palestinians live side by side in peace “is still achievable.”
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Ban is encouraging Israeli and Palestinian leaders to work with the international community “to create a conducive environment for a return to meaningful negotiations.”
Dujarric said the United Nations is ready to support efforts to reach this goal.
The Palestinian UN ambassador said the vote “is significant after years of paralysis” and a step toward addressing “a 70-year open wound” that has prevented peace and stability in the region.
Riyad Mansour told the council that Israel’s settlements and its separation wall “have severely fragmented our land, undermined its contiguity, and isolated east Jerusalem,” which the Palestinians want as the capital of an independent state.
He said urgent steps are needed now “to reverse the dangerous, negative trends on the ground and to advance our collective efforts to end the Israeli occupation that began in 1967.”
The resolution demands an immediate halt to Israeli settlement building, and Mansour said that will require “vigilant follow-up if it is to be meaningful, to stem further deterioration and salvage the two-state solution from relegation to history’s archives.”
He urged the council to “stand firm by this decision” and “not be cowed by negative threats or spin.”
Israel’s UN ambassador, however, called the vote “a victory for terror” and warning that it will not lead to peace. Danny Danon told the council that the resolution was full of “lies” and will be added “to the long and shameful list of anti-Israel UN resolutions.”
Israeli PM vows action
Meanwhile, Israel’s prime minister is taking diplomatic action against the countries that cosponsored the resolution.
Prime Minister Benjamin ordered Israel’s ambassadors in New Zealand and Senegal to immediately return home for consultations. He also instructed the Foreign Ministry to end all aid programs for Senegal and to cancel a planned visit to Israel by the Senegalese foreign minister.
New Zealand determined
New Zealand said the resolution should have come as no surprise to Israel, after Israel retaliated by recalling its ambassador to Wellington.
New Zealand cosponsored the resolution. New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the decision should have been no surprise to Israel which knew Wellington’s position long before the UN vote. “Israel has informed us of their decision to recall their ambassador to New Zealand for consultations.”
“We have been very open about our view that the (Security Council) should be doing more to support the Middle East peace process and the position we adopted today is totally in line with our long-established policy on the Palestinian question.
Malaysia and Venezuela also sponsored the UN resolution but do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
Bipartisan history
US Ambassador Samantha Power said the Obama administration was delivering the same message that his Republican and Democratic predecessors have been sending for nearly five decades when it allowed the UN Security Council to condemn Israeli settlements as “a flagrant violation” of international law — that Israel must stop building settlements.
Power told the council that then Republican president Ronald Reagan said in 1982: “The United States will not support the use of any additional land for the purpose of settlements...”
She said: “President Reagan’s words highlight the United States’ longstanding position that Israel settlement activity in territories occupied in 1967 undermines Israel’s security, harms the viability of a negotiated two-state outcome, and erodes prospects for peace and stability in the region.”
She noted that since 1967, the only US president who had not had at least one Israeli-Palestinian-related Security Council resolution passed during his tenure was Barack Obama.
“So our vote today is fully in line with the bipartisan history of how American presidents have approached both the issue and the role of this body,” Power said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement that the US acted with one primary objective in mind — to preserve the possibility of the two-state solution, which every US administration for decades has agreed is the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
“Two states is the only way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state, living in peace and security with its neighbors, and freedom and dignity for the Palestinian people. That future is now in jeopardy, with terrorism, violence and incitement continuing and unprecedented steps to expand settlements being advanced by avowed opponents of the two-state solution. That is why we cannot in good conscience stand in the way of a resolution that makes clear that both sides must act now to preserve the possibility of peace.”
Jordan welcomed the “historic” resolution, saying the momentous vote paved a way for a two-state solution. “This historic decision expresses the consensus of the international community on the illegality of Israeli settlements and reaffirms the Palestinian people’s historic right (to live) in Jerusalem and its historic lands,” Jordan’s information minister Mohammad Al-Momani said.
Momani said the resolution reinforced the historic position of Jordan — one of the few Arab states to have diplomatic ties with Israel — on the need for a two-state solution.
Hamas said the resolution marked an “important evolution.”
“Hamas appreciates the position of the countries that voted in the Security Council for the right of the Palestinian people (to live) on their land,” said Hamas spokesman Fawzy Barhoum.
“We salute this important evolution in international positions,” he said, while calling for more such actions to bring about “the end of the occupation.”
