France's draft resolution shouldn't end Palestinian efforts to internationalise the cause
Oraib Al-Rantawi
Saturday, 11 April 2015
File photo of a UN Security Council meeting in New York
The United States is refraining from commenting on the French draft resolution on the Palestinian issue which is being circulated in the halls of the UN Security Council. The US justification for this is to give Benjamin Netanyahu a chance to form his fourth government in Israel and announce its programme in this regard; any bridges will then be crossed when they come to them.
If the Israeli government renews its verbal commitment to the negotiations option and the two-state solution, then it is unlikely that Washington will go all the way in supporting the French resolution, which aims to embody a vision for a two-state solution with Jerusalem as a shared capital. It also refers to the 1967 borders as the basis for the two states with an agreed upon and limited land swap; the negotiations regarding this issues would end within just two years.
However, if the prime minister reiterates his electoral statements in which he vowed to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state during his time in office, then Washington is likely to be willing to accept the Security Council draft and not try to restrain its French ally. Nevertheless, the US will probably slip many Israeli positions and conditions into the text. In other words, Washington will try to prevent it from having any real substance. Barack Obama understands that there are limits to how much he (or anyone else) can pressure Israel and its allies; he has barely succeeded in going through with the Iranian nuclear agreement and will certainly not risk another round of clashes with Israel and its many friends in the US Congress. He may reach a point where he has to choose between justifying and promoting the nuclear deal, or going through another round of pressure in order to achieve an Israeli agreement with the Palestinians.
Surely Netanyahu will not stand by the statements he made during the election campaign, at least not soon anyway, as he has already tried to back down from them. He has also surrounded the issue of a state with a group of impossible conditions, and will definitely continue to pump out statements supporting a demilitarised state after the Palestinians recognise the "Jewishness" of the state of Israel and the PA cuts ties with Hamas without the Israeli government having to stop illegal settlement activity. If this is an indication of anything, then it is an indication of the outright rejection of the idea of a two-state solution, but it is being done in a diplomatic manner in order to fend off pressure on Tel Aviv.
in full: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/europe/17984-frances-draft-resolution-shouldnt-end-palestinian-efforts-to-internationalise-the-cause