UN vote against peace plan faces delay; Palestinians insist it’s not dead

A Palestinian effort to bring a resolution rejecting the US Mideast peace plan to a vote at the UN Security Council faced a delay from its intended Tuesday date, multiple reports on Monday indicated, with the future of the motion seemingly in question.

Diplomats told AFP on Monday afternoon that the Palestinians had abandoned their request for a vote over a lack of international support. Introduced by Indonesia and Tunisia, the resolution risked not having nine out of 15 votes in its favor, the minimum required for adoption, provided there is no veto by a permanent member, the diplomats told AFP.

Palestine Liberation Organization Secretary-General Saeb Erekat quickly denied the motion had been shelved, insisting the reports were false, though he did say it was not yet ready for a vote.

“Reports that the resolution promoted by the Arab Group and the non-aligned movement has been withdrawn are unfounded. The draft resolution has been distributed. We are continuing the process of consultation with various countries in a way that doesn’t contradict the principles. We would like to note that the draft resolution is not yet in blueprint, or ready to be voted,” he wrote on Twitter.

Senior PA official Hussein al-Sheikh tweeted, “Rumors about the draft resolution intended to be presented to the Security Council are part of a fierce war being waged against the Palestinian leadership. We affirm that the consultations are still continuing despite the American war and its pressure on the whole world not to pass the draft resolution.”

Numerous Israeli and Palestinian media outlets, citing sources close to Palestinian Authority leadership, reported that the vote would not go forward Tuesday, whether due to intense diplomatic pressure, a lack of support, or Palestinian rejection of a watered down version of the resolution.

The Palestinian Ma’an news agency, citing a well-informed source, said: “We are not backing away from putting forward a resolution, but when we arrived in New York City, it became clear to us that we still need to consult with member states that have not decided their position yet.”

Israeli officials told The Times of Israel the vote was currently postponed, not canceled, and could be back on the agenda at any time.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said: “The Israeli position line has always been very clear: The only way to promote peace is through negotiations, not condemnations at the UN. I thank the countries that helped put a stop to Abbas’s unnecessary actions.”

Earlier Monday, PLO Executive Committee member Ahmad Majdalani told The Times of Israel that the latest draft resolution was “unacceptable.”

A Palestinian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, called the latest draft “watered-down” and “weak,” as well as lacking “the necessary language to deter Israel from taking illegal unilateral measures aimed at destroying the two-state solution.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was still scheduled to hold a news conference in New York Tuesday with former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert at 5 p.m. (Israel time).

The news Palestinians could be pulling the resolution came a day after reports emerged that they were trying to soften the text to garner more support at the Security Council.

The reworked resolution seen by AFP had dropped its initial strong condemnation of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, couching its criticism in milder language than in the original.

The changes came as diplomatic pressure mounted ahead of Tuesday’s Security Council vote, which Abbas was expected to be on hand for.

In one sign of the pressure, Tunisia last week abruptly fired its ambassador to the United Nations, Moncef Baati, citing his failure to consult with his foreign ministry on matters said to include the peace plan.

Diplomatic sources said Tunisia’s President Kais Saied was worried that Baati’s expressions of support for the Palestinians would damage Tunisia’s relations with the United States.

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, briefed the Security Council on the US plan on Thursday.

The plan would put the Palestinian capital in a suburb of Jerusalem, rather than in East Jerusalem, and allow Israel to annex more than 130 Jewish settlements in the West Bank, as well as the Jordan Valley.

It has been roundly rejected by the Palestinians, the Arab League, and the Islamic Cooperation Organization. On Sunday, the African Union followed suit, with its chairman, Moussa Faki Mahamat, telling a summit of African leaders in Addis Ababa that it “trampled on the rights of the Palestinian people.”

The initial draft of the Palestinian resolution, which was presented by Tunisia and Indonesia last Tuesday, charged that the US plan “breaches international law and the internationally-endorsed terms of reference for the achievement of a just, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

The later version said the US initiative “departs from the internationally-endorsed terms of reference and parameters for the achievement of a just, comprehensive and lasting solution to this conflict, as enshrined in the relevant United Nations resolutions.”

The draft no longer called for an international conference on the Middle East “at the earliest possible date,” instead, replacing that language with a reminder that such a call was made in a 2008 UN resolution.

It also added a line “condemning all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation, incitement and destruction.”

It still condemned Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and reaffirms the need to preserve the boundary lines from 1967.

Adam Rasgon and Raphael Ahren contributed to this report.