The Palestinian Mission to the United Nations is courting the Security Council to create a resolution condemning Israel’s decision to legalize nine outposts and advance plans for 10,000 new settlement homes in the West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government voted to legalize the outposts and establish the settlements on Sunday, two days after a Palestinian terrorist drove a car into a bus stop in Jerusalem, killing three Israelis, including two young brothers.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, on Monday sent a letter to Security Council members about the Israeli government’s move, Axios reported Tuesday. In the letter, Mansour wrote the Security Council must act immediately to send a clear message to Israel against its settlement activity.
The move by Israel’s government was condemned Tuesday in a joint statement by foreign ministers from France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
"We strongly oppose these unilateral actions which will only serve to exacerbate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians and undermine efforts to achieve a negotiated two-state solution," the resolution stated.
Violence between Palestinians and Israelis is at its highest point in years. Israel Defense Forces have conducted numerous raids in West Bank refugee camps to root out terrorist cells, but in one instance, a 61-year-old woman was killed. The next day, a Palestinian gunman shot and killed seven people outside an east Jerusalem synagogue, including a 14-year-old boy.
Despite its strong stance against the building of news settlements, the Biden administration is trying to convince the Palestinians not to push for a vote on any Security Council resolution related to the settlement decision, Axios reported, citing Israeli and U.S. officials.
Axios reported the Biden administration proposed to the Palestinians that instead of a resolution, the U.S. would support the release of a statement by the Security Council's president on the issue of settlements. But Palestinian officials have so far rejected the U.S. proposal and want to push for a vote.
According to U.N. Security Council rules, the Palestinians need nine of the 15 members, including all five permanent members — the U.S., China, France, the United Kingdom and Russia — to get the resolution passed. A resolution can pass with a permanent member abstaining, such as in December 2016, when the Obama administration didn’t veto a Security Council resolution against Israeli settlements.
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