US May Sanction Palestinians Over Statehood Bid

Complains UN Resolution Ignores Israel's Needs

The State Department today angrily condemned the Palestinian proposal for statehood submitted to the UN Security Council, insisting it fails to account for Israel’s needs.

The Palestinians had revised the bid in an attempt to avoid a US veto, but still wanted international recognition for an independent Palestinian state by the end of 2017.

The US veto, pushed by Israel, still seems assured, and Secretary of State John Kerry tried to convince the Palestinians to delay the resolution until after the Israeli election in March.

Palestinians officials said Kerry not only vowed a US veto, but threatened to impose US sanctions against the Palestinians for even trying to submit the resolution.

It is unclear where the alternative resolution pushed by France stands in all of this. That resolution simply sought to set a deadline to restart peace talks, though Israeli officials were equally outraged at that version, and similarly demanded a veto. It remains unclear if the US will veto, or indeed if that version will be offered at all.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.