U.S. to reject UN resolution demanding that Israel immediately cease all settlement activities in Judea and Samaria.
By United with Israel Staff
The United States has announced its opposition to a proposed UN Security Council resolution that would criticize Israel over its construction in Judea and Samaria.
The resolution demands that Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory,” Reuters reported.
The US has made it clear that it would not back the resolution reportedly initiated by the United Arab Emirates, a US ally which has normalized relations with Israel.
The State Department has emphasized that the introduction of this resolution was unhelpful in supporting the conditions necessary to advance the negotiations of a two-state solution.
Israel’s announcement this week that it would authorize nine communities in Judea and Samaria, which have existed for many years and some of which have existed for decades, was criticized by the US.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said the Biden administration was “deeply troubled” by Israel’s recent moves legalizing nine communities in Judea and Samaria that was made in response to a spate of terror attacks in Jerusalem.
“We are deeply troubled by Israel’s decision yesterday to advance reportedly nearly 10,000 settlement units and to begin a process to retroactively legalize nine outposts in [Judea and Samaria] that were previously illegal under Israeli law,” Blinken said in a statement.
“Like previous administrations, Democratic and Republican, we strongly oppose such unilateral measures, which exacerbate tensions and undermine the prospects for a negotiated two-state solution,” he added.
The US has traditionally used its veto power in the Security Council when it has attempted to pass anti-Israel resolutions, though the Obama administration in 2016 did not veto a Security Council resolution against Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria.
A senior US official said the Biden administration’s public statements were just the first phase of its response and stressed that there are discussions on further steps the administration could take to make its position against the settlements clear, Axios reported Wednesday.
Israel liberated eastern Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria during the 1967 Six-Day War, when the tiny Jewish state was threatened with annihilation by the surrounding Arab countries. Jordan had occupied those territories since 1948, after it attacked the fledgling State of Israel.
The proposed UN resolution, slated for a vote on Monday, ignores the Jewish historical connection and legal rights to the land of Israel, including Judea and Samaria, the biblical heartland.