Trump Administration Will Be Unable To Overturn Vote

The US green light that allowed the UN Security Council to condemn Israeli colonies in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem could spur moves toward new terms to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But it also poses dangers for the UN with the incoming Trump administration and may harden Israel’s attitude toward concessions.

The Obama administration’s decision to abstain and allow the UN’s most powerful body to approve a long-sought resolution calling Israeli colonies “a flagrant violation under international law” was a sharp rebuke to a longstanding ally and a striking rupture with past US vetoes.

US Ambassador Samantha Power said, “It is because this resolution reflects the facts on the ground — and is consistent with US policy across Republican and Democratic administrations throughout the history of the state of Israel — that the United States did not veto it.”

She cited a 1982 statement by then-President Ronald Reagan that the United States “will not support the use of any additional land for the purpose of colonies” and that “colony activity is in no way necessary for the security of Israel”.

The Security Council vote on Friday, however, was anything but routine for Washington, which traditionally vetoes all resolutions related to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict on grounds that differences must be solved through negotiations. It was the first resolution on the conflict approved during President Barack Obama’s nearly eight years in office and shone a spotlight on his icy relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The US decision to abstain on the 14-0 vote followed months of intensely secret deliberations in Washington, a spate of fresh Israeli colony announcements that sparked exasperation and anger from American officials, and recent attempts by Israel’s government to have parliament legalise thousands of homes built on privately owned Palestinian land.

After Egypt suddenly postponed a scheduled vote on the resolution on Thursday, reportedly under pressure from Israel and supporters of US President-elect Donald Trump, four new sponsors stepped up and pushed it through — Malaysia, New Zealand, Venezuela and Senegal, each representing a different region and reflecting the wide support for the measure.

Trump demanded that Obama veto the resolution and tweeted after the vote, “As to the UN, things will be different after Jan. 20th” — when Trump takes office.

It would be virtually impossible, however, for Trump to overturn the resolution. It would require a new resolution with support from at least nine members in the 15-member Security Council and no veto by one of the other permanent members — Russia, China, Britain or France, all of whom supported Friday’s resolution.

Republicans, who control Congress, immediately threatened consequences. Sen. Lindsay Graham, who heads the Senate panel in charge of US payments to the UN, said he would “form a bipartisan coalition to suspend or significantly reduce” funding. He added that countries receiving US aid could also be penalised for supporting the resolution.

Under UN rules, failure to pay dues leads to the loss of voting privileges in the General Assembly.

source : gulfnews