The decision by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to seek a UN Security Council resolution that would recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and would require Israel’s withdrawal from the territories by the end of 2017 has forced many countries, in the Middle East and around the world, to revisit the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and restore the issue yet again to the front burner. This development has inevitably also placed the political process with the Palestinians and Israeli-US relations over this issue at the top of Israel’s public agenda, resulting in the Israeli-Palestinian political process becoming a hotly contested topic in the Israeli national election slated, for March 17, 2015.

The PLO’s decision to turn to the Security Council is the result of a combination of factors: the ongoing deadlock in the political process, the failure of the last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks spearheaded by US Secretary of State John Kerry, and the sense (widespread among the Palestinians long before the declaration of early elections in Israel) that a political breakthrough is not on the horizon and that the Israeli government is not amenable to an agreement. At the same time, this is an attempt on Abbas’ part to take advantage of the escalating tensions and violence between Israel and the Palestinians (while hoping that events do not spiral out of control and ignite an all-out conflagration) to promote a strategy designed to generate international recognition of a Palestinian state and impose a solution on Israel without direct negotiations. In addition, the Palestinian move in the Security Council is meant to challenge the United States, and in particular to test its tradition of vetoing resolutions relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The tense atmosphere between Israel and the Palestinians is exacerbated by recent events on the Temple Mount. Given the lack of response by the Israeli government to activities by right wing politicians at the site, these events are seen as a reflection of Israel’s intention to undermine the longstanding status quo there. Moreover, the focus on Jerusalem has pushed Jordan, which views itself as the keeper of the site, to take several countermeasures, including the recall of its ambassador to Israel for consultations, an emergency summit meeting in Amman to discuss developments, and use of its status as a member of the Security Council to back the Palestinian diplomatic bid at the UN.

The Israeli government has reacted to the Palestinian move at the Security Council with intensive diplomatic efforts to foil the bid, mostly by trying to persuade the US administration to veto the Palestinian resolution and any other version proposed in the Security Council. As part of these efforts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Rome for a special emergency meeting with John Kerry. The meeting was not followed by any public announcement, and thus the outcome of the meeting is still unknown.

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