Date:
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Leaders to hold urgent consulations in Rome next week as Palestinians
press ahead toward Security Council bid
BY TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF December 10, 2014, 7:34 pm | The Times of Israel |
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry on
Monday for an urgent consultation on Palestinian statehood efforts at the United Nations
Security Council, senior Israeli officials said Wednesday.
The US State Department confirmed that Kerry would fly to Rome Monday to meet with
Netanyahu.
“They will discuss a number of issues, including recent developments in Israel, the West Bank,
and Jerusalem and the region,” the State Department said in a statement.
The two leaders will convene in order to discuss an expected UN Security Council vote which
would effectively set a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority has stated that it is determined to present the resolution to the UN by the
end of 2014. The US, however, has reiterated its opposition to holding the vote, which it sees as
unilateral Palestinian measures that bypass peace talks with Israel.
The resolution would call on Israel to completely withdraw from the West Bank by late 2016.
“We are at the (UN) Security Council now, today. We are continuing our consultation. We want a
Security Council resolution that will preserve the twostate solution,” top Palestinian negotiator
Saeb Erekat said Tuesday. “We want a specific time frame to end the occupation.”
His remarks came after several European parliaments pressed their governments to recognize full
Palestinian statehood.
“We’re being helped a great deal in the Security Council by many nations,” he added, referring to
recent votes of British, French and Spanish MPs in favor of recognizing Palestine as a state.
“We are hoping to achieve this resolution before the end of the month, before Christmas as a
matter of fact.”
The Palestinians are still lobbying to get nine out of 15 security Council members to commit to
voting in favor of the resolution, but say they will go ahead with the bid either way.
The US is widely expected to torpedo the resolution, though some officials say fraying ties
between Jerusalem and Washington could make the US less likely to exercise its veto.
Last week, France, Germany and Britain reportedly began working on a draft resolution to be
submitted to the UN Security Council, as a counter to the Palestinian draft. The resolution is set to
outline the principles of a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians in the time frame of two
years.
On Wednesday, following a Palestinian official’s death en route to a Ramallah hospital after he
was struck in the chest by an IDF soldier, a top Fatah leader, Jibril Rajoub, told The Times of
Israel that the PA will now immediately apply for membership in international organizations. He
was referring to dozens of United Nations and other forums that the Palestinians have long
threatened to seek to join in unilateral moves opposed by Israel.
On November 17, the European Union harshly condemned Israel for settlement expansion,
threatening to “take further action” to respond to Israeli moves deemed harmful to the twostate
solution, but refrained from announcing concrete sanctions.
At the same time, an internal EU document was revealed in Haaretz that showed preliminary
sanctions the union is considering imposing on Israel, including recalling European ambassadors
and cutting ties with Israeli leaders who publicly oppose the twostate solution.