Will the US Support an Anti-Israel Resolution at the UN?

The UN Security Council is scheduled to vote on another anti-Israel resolution. Will the Obama administration vote against it, according to traditional US policy? 

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is scheduled to vote on Thursday on a draft resolution demanding an immediate stop to Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria and for countries “to distinguish in the relevant dealings between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories ‘occupied’ since 1967.”

The resolution, formulated by the Arab League and presented by Egypt, defines Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria as illegal and as an obstacle to the two-state solution. It demands that Israel cease all activities connected to these communities and take immediate steps to prevent “violence against civilians.”

Jerusalem is fearful, as it is unclear how the US will vote and whether outgoing President Barack Obama will continue with the traditional American policy of vetoing anti-Israel resolutions, as he did five years ago during a similar vote. The White House declined to comment.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted late Wednesday night that the US “should veto the anti-Israel resolution at the UN Security Council on Thursday.”

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon slammed the proposed resolution as “the peak of hypocrisy. It will do nothing to promote a diplomatic process, and will only reward the Palestinian policy of incitement and terror.”

He noted the absurdity of the resolution, which was submitted at a time “when thousands are being massacred in Syria,” while the UNSC “is devoting time and energy to convene and discuss condemning the only true democracy in the Middle East.”

Over the past months Israel’s mission to the UN has waged a diplomatic effort urging the Council members to reject such a resolution.

“We expect our greatest ally not to allow this one-sided and anti-Israel resolution to be adopted by the Council,” Danon said of the US’ support in question.

For years, the US has officially opposed any attempts by the Palestinians to seek recognition for statehood or allow international bodies such as the UN to impose solutions.

US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro stated that Obama will not support a resolution at the UNSC adopting a unilateral move that would recognize the “state of Palestine” or force a settlement on Israel.

Shapiro said that the US has “always opposed unilateral propositions. This is a long-term policy. If there will ever be a unilateral proposal, we have opposed it in the past and will do so in the future.”

“Our view hasn’t changed that we believe that the preferred path for the Palestinians to achieve statehood is through direct negotiations that will lead to a just, lasting and comprehensive peace based on a two-state solution,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in late November.

The House earlier this month passed a bipartisan, non-binding bill urging Obama to continue blocking resolutions that attempt to impose preconditions on a peace deal.

By: United with Israel Staff