J Street laments failure to reach consensus on Palestine bid
Liberal Jewish group says Abbas move emanated 'from legitimate frustration with 47 years of occupation,' blames US and others for not drafting acceptable resolution
The US liberal Jewish group J Street said Wednesday that the failure of an attempt to pass a UN Security Council resolution aimed at establishing a timetable for a Palestinian state lay with the international community and the US for not drafting a text with broader appeal.
In Tuesday’s vote the Palestinians were unable to muster the support of nine out of the 15 Security Council members, with eight voting in favor, two opposing and five abstaining.
“It was the failure of the United States and the international community to take a positive step toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict diplomatically by crafting a resolution that could have gained broad international consensus,” J Street said in a statement.
The group stressed that it had not taken a stance on the validity of the draft in the form in which it was submitted but noted “alternative drafts did a better job of balancing Israeli and Palestinian concerns, particularly around security.”
The US and Australia voted against the resolution; Russia, China, France, Luxembourg, Jordan, Argentina, Chile and Chad voted for it; and Britain, Nigeria, South Korea, Rwanda and Lithuania abstained.
Before the vote, the UK explained that it would not support the resolution due to “difficulties with the text.”
The resolution called for setting a 12-month deadline for negotiations on a final peace deal with Israel and imposing a full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and East Jerusalem by the end of 2017.
“We urged the US to work with allies to bring to the Council a version consistent with American policy and with internationally accepted parameters on which a two-state solution would be achieved,” J Street said. “We regret that this did not occur.”
The group expressed its empathy with the Palestinian motives for taking the resolution to the Security Council.
“The Palestinian approach to the UN emanates from legitimate frustration with 47 years of occupation and settlement activity that is eating away at the possibility of a two-state solution,” J Street said.
It also urged the Palestinians to not apply for membership of the International Criminal Court, “a step that could set off a spiral of counterproductive actions and still leave them no closer to freedom and self-determination.”
Palestinian leaders met in Ramallah on Wednesday evening to discuss their next moves following the UN setback and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced that they had signed a request to join the ICC. Membership in the ICC would grant the Palestinians the right to file war crimes claims against Israel and Israeli figures with the court. It would also make the Palestinians vulnerable to such lawsuits.
J Street called on the US to “play a more active role in ending the conflict and not be content simply with voting against a resolution it cannot support.”
The group also appealed to the Israeli leadership “to refrain from taking the opportunity to announce new settlement expansion.”
The Palestinians initially circulated a draft resolution on October 1 asking the Security Council to set a deadline of November 2016 for an Israeli withdrawal from all Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. France had been working for a UN resolution aimed at restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, setting a two-year deadline for their success.