UN's anti-settlement resolution
This March 14, 2011 file photo shows a general
view of a construction site in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Modiin
Illit.
(AP/Oded Balilty, File)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the
U.S. to use its veto power to block a United Nations resolution
demanding a halt to Israeli settlement activities in Palestinian
territory and declares that all existing settlements "have no legal
validity" and are "a flagrant violation" of international law.
The draft resolution, circulated by Egypt, also stresses that "the cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is essential for salvaging the two-state solution" which would see Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side in peace.
The U.S. vetoed a similar resolution in 2011, but it was not immediately clear how U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power would vote Thursday.
The U.N. Security Council has scheduled a 3 p.m. ET meeting to vote on the resolution. The U.S., along with China, France, Great Britain and Russia, is one of five permanent Security Council members with the power to kill any resolution.
Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said the resolution "will do nothing to promote a diplomatic process, and will only reward the Palestinian policy of incitement and terror."
"We expect our greatest ally not to allow this one-sided and anti-Israel resolution to be adopted by the council," he said.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, has said a cessation of all Israeli settlement activities and an end to its nearly 50-year occupation of Palestinian territory are necessary for a comprehensive peace agreement. Netanyahu has rejected those terms, saying negotiations should take place without conditions.
In September, the international diplomatic "quartet" of Mideast peacemakers called for Israel and the Palestinians to take steps to resume stalled peace talks.
But the gaps between Israeli and Palestinian leaders remain wide, preventing any meaningful talks since 2009.
The draft resolution calls for intensified and accelerated international and regional diplomatic efforts "aimed at achieving, without delay a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East."
New Zealand, a non-permanent council member, has been pushing a separate resolution that would set out the parameters of a peace settlement.
The draft resolution, circulated by Egypt, also stresses that "the cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is essential for salvaging the two-state solution" which would see Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side in peace.
The U.S. vetoed a similar resolution in 2011, but it was not immediately clear how U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power would vote Thursday.
The U.N. Security Council has scheduled a 3 p.m. ET meeting to vote on the resolution. The U.S., along with China, France, Great Britain and Russia, is one of five permanent Security Council members with the power to kill any resolution.
Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said the resolution "will do nothing to promote a diplomatic process, and will only reward the Palestinian policy of incitement and terror."
"We expect our greatest ally not to allow this one-sided and anti-Israel resolution to be adopted by the council," he said.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, has said a cessation of all Israeli settlement activities and an end to its nearly 50-year occupation of Palestinian territory are necessary for a comprehensive peace agreement. Netanyahu has rejected those terms, saying negotiations should take place without conditions.
In September, the international diplomatic "quartet" of Mideast peacemakers called for Israel and the Palestinians to take steps to resume stalled peace talks.
But the gaps between Israeli and Palestinian leaders remain wide, preventing any meaningful talks since 2009.
The draft resolution calls for intensified and accelerated international and regional diplomatic efforts "aimed at achieving, without delay a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East."
New Zealand, a non-permanent council member, has been pushing a separate resolution that would set out the parameters of a peace settlement.
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