The US has vetoed an Arab-sponsored UN resolution branding Israeli settlements illegal, prompting angry Palestinians to vow to re-evaluate the entire Middle East peace process.
The administration of US President Barack Obama cast its first veto in the UN Security Council on Friday, after intense diplomacy failed to convince Palestinians to accept a non-binding compromise statement condemning Jewish settlement activity.
The row dealt a further blow to Washington’s already struggling bid to forge a Palestinian state this year and risked further estranging US ties with Arab leaders already touchy at its response to unrest sweeping the Middle East.
US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said Washington was “regrettably” blocking the draft and warned that Israel should not interpret the move as backing for settlement building in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.
However, she said the US — one of five permanent Security Council members with veto power — did not believe the UN was the best place to seek to resolve the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“This draft resolution risks hardening the positions of both sides,” Rice said.
Later, in a conference call with reporters, Rice added: “We reject in the strongest terms the legitimacy of the continued Israeli settlement activity.”
However, Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said the US veto was “unfortunate and affects the credibility of the American administration.”
As a result, the Palestinians will “re-evaluate the entire process of negotiations” toward peace in the Middle East, he said.
The resolution, sponsored by 130 countries, reaffirmed “that the Israeli settlements established in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, are illegal and constitute a major obstacle to the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.”
Fourteen of the 15 Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution, but the US veto effectively killed the move.
Israel reacted to the veto by calling for a resumption of direct talks with the Palestinians.
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