France to Launch Push for U.N. Resolution on Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
French Foreign Minister says he doesn’t know how the U.S. would vote
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius addresses a U.N. Security Council meeting Friday. He said his country will move forward on discussions with its partners on a possible resolution that could present a framework for n . Photo: Reuters
By
Joe Lauria
Updated March 27, 2015 1:49 p.m. ET
UNITED NATIONS—France will begin discussions in the coming weeks on a U.N. Security Council resolution that would set out the steps for a negotiated end of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and a solution to the nearly 70-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Friday
France was working on a similar resolution in December, when the Palestinians presented their own draft to the Security Council, which was defeated after it didn’t garner the necessary votes.
France voted in favor of the Palestinian draft, angering Israel. Since the measure fell one vote shy of the required nine-vote majority, the U.S. didn’t have to employ its veto, as it had promised, to kill it.
How the U.S. might vote on a new resolution has been a matter of intense speculation here. Mr. Fabius told reporters at the United Nations headquarters in New York, before addressing a Security Council meeting, that he had no idea how the U.S. would vote.
“I hope that the partners who were reluctant will not be reluctant anymore,” Mr. Fabius said. He said there was “no other solution” but a new resolution.
The White House on Friday appeared to leave open the possibility of U.S. support for the resolution, without commenting specifically. Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the Obama administration was aware of Mr. Fabius’ comments. “But we have not yet actually seen a text of a resolution so I’d reserve comment on a hypothetical resolution,” he said.
U.S.-Israel relations have dropped to historic lows in recent weeks, largely because of disagreement over a nuclear deal with Iran that the U.S. and other world powers hope to reach by March 31 and due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks about Palestinian statehood and Arab Israeli voters.
Following Mr. Netanyahu’s election eve statement this month that he no longer supported a two-state solution to the conflict, Obama administration officials said they would reassess the diplomatic cover Israel has enjoyed for decades from Washington at the U.N.
Since then, Mr. Netanyahu has reversed his position, saying after the election that he supports the creation of a Palestinian state—which is long-standing U.S. policy—as long as certain conditions were met.
Mr. Obama said he didn’t accept an attempt by Mr. Netanyahu to reverse his position back to his original stance in favor of two states after his election victory.
“Steps that the United States has taken at the United Nations had been predicated on this idea that the two-state solution is the best outcome”, said Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, two days after the Israeli election on March 17. “Now our ally in these talks has said that they are no longer committed to that solution. That means we need to re-evaluate our position in this matter, and that is what we will do moving forward.”
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Successive Democratic and Republican administrations have vetoed dozens of Security Council resolutions critical of Israel. The Obama administration vetoed a Security Council resolution in 2011 that declared Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal, even though the U.S. opposes such settlements.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian representative to the U.N., told reporters on Thursday that the Palestinians were considering reintroducing their draft resolution but didn’t say when. He said that in light of political developments he hoped that the U.S. would support the resolution.
“Will a key player in the Security Council translate their reassessment into allowing and approving a Security Council resolution of that magnitude remains to be seen,” Mr. Mansour said.
The defeated Palestinian draft in December had called for a comprehensive solution to the conflict leading to a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders within one year and a withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Palestinian territory within three years. It also called for a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem.
A French official said it was unclear whether Paris plans to push for a new resolution or simply revise the resolution it drafted in December. That document, the official said, was drafted with informal input from the U.S. and other countries.
—Carol E. Lee and Stacy Meichtry contributed to this article.
Write to Joe Lauria at newseditor@wsj.com