(Tanzania) The Biden administration averted a potential diplomatic crisis over Israeli settlements at the United Nations that threatened to overshadow Western efforts to get the world body to highlight Russia’s war with Ukraine in the first anniversary of the Russian invasion this week.
Several diplomats familiar with the situation said on Sunday that the United States had succeeded in preventing a controversial UN Security Council resolution, pushed by the Palestinians and their supporters, which would have condemned Israel for the expansion of settlements and demanded the cessation of future activities.
To avoid a vote and possible US veto on the draft resolution, which would be legally binding, diplomats said the administration had managed to convince Israel and the Palestinians to agree in principle to a six-month freeze on any unilateral action. that they could take.
On the Israeli side, that would mean a commitment not to expand settlements until at least August.
On the Palestinian side, diplomats said this would mean a commitment until August not to pursue action against Israel at the UN and other international bodies such as the World Court, International Criminal Court and Council. United Nations human rights.
Instead of a resolution, diplomats said the Security Council would adopt a weaker presidential statement along the lines of the resolution, likely on Monday. Presidential statements, which require the support of the 15 nations of the Council, form part of the minutes of the Council, but are not legally binding.
The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the highly sensitive negotiations.
A veto on the settlement resolution would have been a political headache for President Joe Biden heading into the 2024 presidential election.
Mr Biden is struggling to balance his opposition to Israeli settlements and his support for a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with moves to improve ties with Palestinians who enjoy broad support among his progressive supporters.
And though the administration has previously denounced Israel’s latest settlement expansion and called the Palestinian resolution “unnecessary,” leading Congressional Republicans have warned Biden that a veto would have serious consequences for his legislative agenda.
A veto would also alienate UN member countries that support the Palestinians, such as the United Arab Emirates, which sponsored the resolution in the Security Council, as the West seeks to support Ukraine in the war with Russia.
The United States is counting on the United Arab Emirates and other pro-Palestinian countries to vote in favor of a resolution at the 193-member General Assembly on Thursday condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and calling for a cessation of hostilities and the immediate withdrawal of all Russian forces.
The deal was reached on Sunday after days of frantic talks between senior Biden administration officials with Palestinian, Israeli and Emirati leaders.
Diplomats said the intensive effort involved Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Mr Sullivan’s Deputy Brett McGurk, Principal Middle East diplomat Barbara Leaf and special envoy for Palestinian affairs Hady Amr.
The Palestinian push for a resolution came as Israel’s new right-wing government reaffirmed its commitment to building new settlements in the West Bank and extending its rule over land Palestinians seek for a future state.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Middle East War. The United Nations and most of the international community regard Israeli settlements as illegal and an obstacle to end of the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem annexed by Israel.
In December 2016, the Security Council demanded that Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”. He stressed that halting settlement activities “is essential to salvage the two-state solution”.
The resolution was passed after President Barack Obama’s administration abstained in the vote, a reversal of longstanding US practice of shielding its close ally Israel from action at the United Nations, including by vetoing Arab-backed resolutions.
Still, the war in Ukraine looms large, especially this week.
On Wednesday, Ukraine is hosting a meeting focusing on human rights abuses, prisoners and abducted children. More than 20 ministers are expected to be among the dozens of speakers who will address the General Assembly from Wednesday afternoon until Thursday’s vote.
For Friday’s anniversary, the Security Council will hold a ministerial meeting on the invasion and its impact.