US Envoy: If Netanyahu Opposes Palestine Deal, Other Steps May Be Taken

McCain Threatens UN Funding Over Possible US Support for Palestine

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro today warned that the US would consider “other steps” in support of the peace process in the region if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains opposed to Palestinian statehood.

Shapiro, who made the comments on Israeli radio, said it might well be impossible for a peace deal to be reached as long as Netanyahu remains in power, but that the US would continue to try to move in the direction of the two-state solution .

Though unspoken, the implication is likely a change in US policy at the UN Security Council, and the end to long-standing US pledges to veto any UN moves to recognize Palestine.

This talk of a shifting US policy in UN has led to a rather unusual threat from Sen. John McCain (R – AZ) to see the UN defunded if the US votes in favor of Palestine there. Though Republicans are often threatening to defund the UN, it is usually based on something the UN might do, as opposed to something the Obama Administration might do.

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.