Following their emergency meeting, the UN Security Council has issued a statement condemning Israel’s latest round of settlement expansion as a violation of international law, warning the plans cast doubt on their seriousness toward reaching a peace deal.
Despite issuing the statement of criticism, the Security Council declined to take up any vote on any action against the construction itself, leading to speculation that the US was still blocking concrete action with its veto power.
There was considerable speculation about that, as US-Israeli relations are getting worse and worse, and the US has been deeply critical of the settlement expansion. Even if the US didn’t agree to any punitive action on Israel, not vetoing the statement itself is still a sign that the US is no longer vetoing everything Israel-related as a matter of course.
The Israeli government has insisted the settlement expansions are not going to stop, no matter what the US says, and likewise that no new concessions will be made to the Palestinians to facilitate new peace talks.
