A resolution in the United Nations condemning President Donald Trump’s peace plan was withdrawn on Feb. 11.
The resolution, which the Palestinian Authority (PA) supports, accused the peace plan of violating international law and that a two-state solution must be predicated on the pre-1967 borders. U.N. diplomats told Agence-France Presse that the resolution was withdrawn due to the United States threatening members of the U.N. Security Council with economic retaliation if they voted for the resolution.
A senior official in the Trump administration told the Times of Israel, “For the first time on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the council was willing to think outside the conventional box and not reflexively fall back on the calcified Palestinian position, which has only allowed the failed status quo to continue.”
He added that the administration is optimistic about other countries embracing the plan as a starting point in negotiations for a two-state solution.
Palestine Liberation Organization Secretary-General Saeb Erekat said in a statement that the resolution, introduced by Indonesia and Tunisia, could be reintroduced to the Security Council later in the week.
Both the U.S. and Israel ambassadors to the U.N. said before the Security Council on Feb. 11 that the onus is on PA President Mahmoud Abbas for peace.
“President Abbas, I heard you, I heard you speak of hope, I heard your words about the importance of hope,” U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft said. “To keep hope alive, there must be willingness to compromise, to engage in good faith.”
Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon similarly said, “Abbas says he wants sovereignty for the Palestinian people, but he has done everything to avoid it. The call for sovereignty has become a battle call, rather than an actual goal, a way to keep the conflict alive.”
Abbas criticized the Trump peace plan, telling the Security Council that the plan emboldens “the apartheid regime.” He also said that the amount of land given to the Palestinians under the plan is “Swiss cheese.”
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