Israel Moves to Ease
Tension Ahead of
Kerry’s Mideast
Speech
by- Speech follows U.S. absention on UN Security Council Vote
- Netanyahu blocks discussion of new building in Jerusalem
Secretary of State John Kerry.
Photographer: WPA Pool/Getty Images
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will offer a “comprehensive vision” for
how Middle East peace can be achieved, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu blocked a discussion of new construction in Jerusalem in an
effort to reduce tensions with Washington.
With barely three weeks left in U.S. President Barack Obama’s term, Kerry
will lay out his plan Wednesday as friction over Netanyahu’s policies
threatens to leave Israel more isolated internationally. Along with the
Kerry speech, scheduled for 11 a.m. EST, France is gathering dozens of
foreign ministers in Paris on Jan. 15 to discuss the conflict. Israeli officials
say that may result in a proposal they view as unfavorable, which could
then be taken to the UN for a seal of approval.
The U.S. last week broke with tradition and didn’t veto UN Security Council
Resolution 2334, which demands that Israel halt all building in areas it won
in the 1967 Middle East war and brands construction there illegal. Describing
himself as a “lifelong friend of Israel,” Kerry defended the U.S. abstention in
a Dec. 23 statement, saying it couldn’t “stand in the way of a resolution at
the United Nations that makes clear that both sides must act now to
preserve the possibility of peace.”
Netanyahu lashed out at Obama after the vote, saying the U.S. pushed the
resolution behind the scenes and broke a commitment to shield Israel from
conditions imposed by the UN. Obama has been highly critical of Israel’s
settlements from the moment he entered office, and clashed with Israel over
a nuclear accord with Iran last year, but his administration denies it was
behind the UN resolution. The U.S. decision to abstain rather than veto
the resolution allowed it to pass.
Trump Response
President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on the speech beforehand, saying
in a pair of tweets that “We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with
such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the
U.S., but.......not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible
Iran deal, and now this (U.N.)! Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast
approaching!”
Netanyahu moved Wednesday to limit friction with the U.S., intervening
to get a Jerusalem municipal committee to postpone a review of plans for
hundreds of new apartments in east Jerusalem, which would have
contradicted Resolution 2334. The committee “will continue to develop
Jerusalem for the benefit of all residents, without prejudice and without
political considerations,” the municipality said in a statement. Committee
member Hanan Rubin said the plans could be reviewed at a later date.
Shmuel Sandler, a political scientist at Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat
Center for Strategic Studies, said Netanyahu remains under pressure to
respond to the UN vote with a wave of new building. Education Minister
Naftali Bennett, whose Jewish Home party opposes a Palestinian state, has
called for Israel to annex large swathes of the West Bank, though Netanyahu
has ordered Cabinet members to cease all talk of annexation for now.
“No matter what, he has to wait for the Trump administration before doing
anything substantial in the settlements,” Sandler said. “He’s aware that
Kerry’s speech is coming up, the Paris conference is coming up and Obama
still has ways to hurt him.”
Netanyahu is hoping for better relations with Trump. The incoming president
has pledged to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and his
choice of ambassador to Israel, attorney David Friedman, is a strong
supporter of the settlements. On Tuesday Trump appointed Thomas
Bossert, a campaign adviser on Israeli issues, to be his assistant for
homeland security and counter terrorism.
Minister of Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi said on a conference
call Wednesday that Kerry’s decision to give a speech on the Middle East
was legitimate and the government would wait to hear the content before
commenting.
Egyptian Report
On Tuesday, the Egyptian newspaper Youm7 reported that Kerry and U.S.
National Security Adviser Susan Rice met with Palestinian officials in
mid-December and agreed to cooperate on the UN resolution, asking
that the discussions be kept secret. Kerry also said he would propose a plan
for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict provided the Palestinians
supported it, the paper said. Israel Radio said PLO Secretary General
Saeb Erekat denied the report.
In a posting on his Facebook page, Netanyahu said the UN had no legal
justification for its resolution against Israeli settlements, and was motivated
instead by “ignorance and malice.” The British Mandate that governed the
area before the State of Israel was established anchors Jewish legal rights
in the West Bank and elsewhere, he said.
A senior Israeli official said the government is
weighing fresh steps against UN agencies it
considers particularly hostile, including the UN
Relief and Works Agency serving Palestinian
refugees; the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs;
and the UN observer force on the Golan Heights. Israel could restrict new
recruits to the agencies, delay visas for their officials and halt or delay visits
of experts to those agencies, said the official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity because the issue is sensitive.
Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for UNRWA, said such steps against
the agency would be unprecedented.
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