US Faces Isolation on Security Council Over Settlements

A surge in settler violence and increased construction and plans for Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem have again placed the Obama administration in a tough spot at the UN Security Council, where some of its closest allies Tuesday strongly condemned recent Israeli policies and settlement activities.

While American officials have repeatedly said they oppose Israeli settlement expansion as illegitimate and counter-productive to the peace process, the US administration used its first and only Security Council veto back in February to oppose a resolution condemning Israeli settlement expansion in a 14-1 vote. 

US support for Israel is a sensitive political issue for this administration.Republican opponents have already criticized the White House for its strained relationship with the Netanyahu government, and less than a year away from an election, the administration likely won’t change its position, should the issue once again come before the Security Council as was suggested by some countries Tuesday. 

Calls for Security Council involvement in the conflict come at a time when the US is trying to convince other Council members to support resolutions and sanctions targeting the regimes in Syria and Iran. A US veto to block another lopsided vote against settlements could further damage American standing in the Arab world and hurt administration’s efforts at the United Nations.

In a briefing on the latest developments Tuesday, UN assistant secretary-general for political affairs, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco called Israeli actions a violation of its obligations under the international community’s roadmap for peace.

Taranco said there had been an alarming increase in settlement construction in East Jerusalem, the cities of Shilo, Efrat and Beitar Illit and that after a long period of restraint, Israeli authorities had resumed in December the demolition of Palestinian residential structure in Jerusalem.

Taranco also briefed the Council members on renewed reports of settler violence, which he says have become a systematic occurrence and often take place in the context of anticipated government action against illegal settlement construction. He said that over the past month, mosques in the West Bank, Hebron, West Jerusalem and near Ramallah have been fire bombed and desecrated and that six Palestinians including two children had been injured in other attacks by settlers.

Security Council diplomats issued statements on behalf of larger diplomatic groups and individually after the briefing,  with IBSA ( India, Brazil, South Africa), the Non Aligned Movement (Group of 120 countries) ,  the four European Council members ( France, UK, Portugal, Germany) as well as Russia, each condemning the surge in settler construction and violence against Palestinian civilians. 

 The American delegation at the United Nations did not issue a statement.. 

Speaking on behalf on the four European Council members, British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said France, Portugal, Germany and the UK where “dismayed” by the negative developments on the ground, which he said had a devastating effect on the peace process. Lyall Grant urged the Israeli government to reverse course on settlement activity, including in East Jerusalem.

“We believe that Israel’s security and the realization of the Palestinians right to statehood  are not opposing goals. On the contrary, they are mutually reinforcing objectives but they will not be achieved while settlement building and settler violence continues.”

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Moscow was also increasingly concerned and frustrated by recent developments, which he said clearly raised human right concerns but also put in question the feasibility of the two state solution. 

“If you look at the map, you start wondering how, even theoretically, two states can be set up in Gaza and West Bank given this new reality.”

Churkin said his country would favor the Security Council using its leverage on the issue of settlements in hopes to encourage real negotiations.

“You can hear people these days say in other contexts: “The international community must act, the security council must act.” he said. “ Why doesn’t it apply to the Israeli-Palestinian track of our diplomatic and political effort? We think it can be done in a way which is not harming Israeli security and interests at all.”

Russia has of late been sharply criticized by US and European governments for blocking a Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on the Syrian government for its crackdown against protesters, although last week Moscow proposed its own draft resolution on Syria which has since been welcomed by European diplomats as a good starting point for negotiations.

Churkin said Israel’s large political coalition make any discussions about possible concessions a complicated for the Israeli government, and that the country’s leadership may need a “gentle prod” from the international community or Security Council to uphold its international obligations.

Both the NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) and IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) statements called on Council members to speak out against violations of international law and uphold Security Council resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

 Brazilian Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti said ending settlement expansion wasn’t a concession “but an obligation as per various resolution per international law”.

 The Brazilian Ambassador said Security Council involvement was required to settle the conflict.

 “The IBSA countries believe the Security Council has an irreplaceable role to play in the peace process, mainly by condemning violence and calling for a complete halt to settlement activity, calling for the implementation of its own resolutions..”

In his report today assistant secretary-general for political affairs Taranco, also detailed the deteriorating security situation in Gaza and Southern Israel. 

Taranco said Israeli forces carried out 13 airstrikes and 9 incursions in Gaza over the past month, resulting in the death of eight Palestinian militants and injuring 24 civilians. 

He said Palestinian militants responded by firing 45 projectiles into Israel after one of the IDF strikes killed two Islamic jihad militants and injured 10 civilians. Israeli officials say the two Jihadist were preparing an attack. He said there was no reported injuries or damage in Israel from the rocket fire from Gaza.

 In the West Bank IDF forces carried out 237 operations,154 civilians injured including 6 children. The operations also resulted in the arrest of over 200 people.