State Dept Slams UN Security Council Resolution Against Israeli Settlements

Israel Mocks Resolution, Says It Proves Palestinians 'Desperate'

The US State Department today condemned efforts by the Palestinian Authority to bring a resolution before the UN Security Council pointing out the illegality of the Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, but declined to answer questions on whether the US would veto the resolution.

Reports have a number of competing resolutions being floated, all of which condemn the settlements, but State Department spokesman Mark Toner insisted that the issue was not the sort of thing that should even be discussed by the UN.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry mocked the resolution, saying it proved how desperate the Palestinians were, and cautioned European nations which might support such a resolution not to give the Palestinians false hope that the settlements would stop being expanded into their territory.

Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 and has seized considerable portions of the territory for religious settlements since then. The government has ruled out ever ending the expansion of the settlements, and while the US has nominally expressed opposition to their further expansion, they are fully expected to defend tooth and nail Israel’s continued expansion, regardless of its impact.

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.