BICOM

The United States quickly clarified yesterday that it would oppose an amended version of a controversial Palestinian-led United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution, should it come to a vote. The US staked out its position after Arab delegations yesterday endorsed the new draft, which takes more hard line positions than an earlier draft submitted on 17 December.

The original resolution calls for a 12-month deadline on peace negotiations and an Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory by the end of 2017. The earlier text outlined an accord based on the pre-1967 borders with “Jerusalem as the shared capital of the two States.” However, the latest version of the motion is reportedly more rigid, referring only to East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state, dropping references to territorial swaps, and adding clauses relating to the release of Palestinian prisoners.

It remains unclear when a vote on the amended motion might take place. Whilst Palestinian negotiator Saeb Eerekat said on Sunday he expected a vote this week, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki suggested yesterday that the move could be delayed until January. On 1 January, countries considered more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause are set to be co-opted to the UN Security Council.

US State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said yesterday that the resolution “sets arbitrary deadlines” and is “more likely to curtail useful negotiations than to bring them to a successful conclusion.” Rathke added that “The resolution fails to account for Israel’s legitimate security needs, and the satisfaction of those needs, of course, [is] integral to a sustainable settlement.” The United States has long maintained that it would veto a resolution which attempted to impose a one-sided solution without recognising Israel’s security concerns. Rathke said other states shared its concerns. Whilst European states, including Britain, have not yet responded to the draft, it seems unlikely they would support the new version, which endorses Palestinian positions regarded by Israel as maximalist.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that he expects “the international community — at least the responsible members of that community — to oppose… this UN Security Council resolution because what we need always is direct negotiations and not imposed conditions.”