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United States Abstains on Security Council Resolution Criticizing Israeli Settlements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2017

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Extract

On December 23, 2016, the United States abstained from voting on a United Nations Security Council resolution that condemned Israeli settlement construction, thereby allowing the resolution to be adopted by a vote of 14–0. Israel's response was swift and disapproving.

Type
General International and U.S. Foreign Relations Law
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 111 , Issue 2 , April 2017 , pp. 477 - 482
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 by The American Society of International Law 

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References

1 UN SCOR, 7853rd mtg., UN Doc. S/PV.7853, at 4 (Dec. 23, 2016); SC Res. 2334, UN Doc. S/RES/2334 (Dec. 23, 2016) (adopted by a vote of 14–0–1).

2 [Editors’ note: The “Quartet Roadmap” refers to a plan developed in 2003 by the United States, the European Union, the Russian Federation, and the UN secretary-general to advance the 1991 Madrid Conference process for peacefully resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Murphy, Sean D., Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law: ICJ Advisory Opinion on Israeli Security Fence, 98 AJIL 349, 361 (2004)Google Scholar.]

3 UN SCOR, supra note 1, at 5.

4 Id.

5 Id. at 6.

6 SC Draft Res., UN Doc. S/2011/24 (Feb. 18, 2011); UN SCOR, 6484th mtg. at 5, UN Doc. S/PV.6484 (Feb. 18, 2011) (Ambassador Susan Rice explained the U.S. veto: “While we agree with our fellow Council members—and indeed with the wider world—about the folly and illegitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity, we think it unwise for this Council to attempt to resolve the core issues that divide Israelis and Palestinians. Therefore, regrettably, we have opposed this draft resolution.”); see Crook, J.R., Contemporary Practice of the United States, 105 AJIL 333, 345–47 (2011)Google Scholar.

7 UN SCOR, supra note 1, at 7.

8 Id.

9 Id.

10 Id.

11 U.S. Dep't of State Press Release, John Kerry, Remarks on Middle East Peace (Dec. 28, 2016), at https://2009-2017.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2016/12/266119.htm [hereinafter Dec. 28, 2016 Kerry Remarks].

12 Letter from the State Department Legal Adviser Concerning Legality of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Territories, Apr. 21, 1978, reproduced in 17 ILM 777, 778 (1978) [hereinafter 1978 Opinion].

13 Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Aug. 12, 1949, 6 UST 3516 [hereinafter Fourth Geneva Convention]. See also Theodor Meron, The West Bank and International Humanitarian Law on the Eve of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Six-Day War (in this issue of AJIL).

14 Fourth Geneva Convention, supra note 13, Art. 49, para. 6.

15 1978 Opinion, supra note 12, at 779.

16 Glenn Kessler, 1979 State Dept. Legal Opinion Raises New Questions About Israeli Settlements, Wash. Post (June 17, 2009), at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/16/AR2009061603285.html; Bernard Gwertzman, State Department; About the West Bank and the Emperor's Clothes, N.Y. Times (Aug. 25, 1983), at http://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/25/us/state-department-about-the-west-bank-and-the-emperor-s-clothes.html (In a meeting with reporters two weeks after his inauguration, Reagan told them: “‘As to the West Bank, I believe the settlements there—I disagreed when the previous Administration referred to them as illegal—they're not illegal.’ He added, however, that the Israeli effort to continue to build new settlements was ‘unnecessarily provocative.’”).

17 During the summer of 2009, the State Department spokesperson declined to say whether the administration stood by the 1978 opinion. Kessler, supra note 16. Likewise, when the 2011 Security Council resolution on Israeli settlements came up for a vote, the United States had not yet declared settlement building illegal. See David E. Sanger, U.S. Tries to Head Off Vote Against Israeli Settlements, N.Y. Times (Feb. 18, 2011), at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/18/world/middleeast/18israel.html; see also Crook, supra note 6, at 346 (noting press reports suggested that the United States would have agreed to calling the settlements “illegitimate,” but not “illegal”).

18 Dec. 28, 2016 Kerry Remarks, supra note 11.

19 Id.

20 UN SCOR, supra note 1, at 15.

21 Ruth Eglash, Netanyahu Summons U.S. Envoy over Anti-Settlement Resolution Adopted by U.N., Wash. Post (Dec. 25, 2016), at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/netanyahu-reprimands-nations-that-supported-un-settlement-resolution/2016/12/25/0519946f-3cdc-4e0c-96b3-a9926750dae0_story.html. The Obama administration denied the accusation of collusion. The press quoted a senior Obama administration official as saying:

To be clear: from the start, this was an Egyptian resolution. The Egyptians authored it, circulated it, and submitted it for a vote on Wednesday evening before asking for a delay and subsequently removing their sponsorship. Contrary to some claims, the administration was not involved in formulating the resolution nor have we promoted it.

Stephen Collinson, David Wright & Elise Labott, US Abstains as UN Demands End to Israeli Settlements, CNN.com (Dec. 24, 2016), at http://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/23/politics/israel-official-rips-obama-un-settlements.

22 Ruth Eglash & Carol Morello, Netanyahu Blasts U.N., Obama over West Bank Settlements Resolution, Wash. Post (Dec. 24, 2016), at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/netanyahu-calls-un-resolution-on-settlements-shameful/2016/12/23/2d45fbac-c94cf-11e6-bf4b-2c064d32a4bf_story.html. The permanent representative had offered similar criticism. Collinson, supra note 21 (“It was to be expected that Israel's greatest ally would act in accordance with the values that we share and that they would have vetoed this disgraceful resolution. I have no doubt that the new U.S. administration and the incoming UN Secretary General will usher in a new era in terms of the UN's relationship with Israel.”).

23 Peter Beaumont, Israel Rejects ‘Shameful’ UN Resolution amid Criticism of Netanyahu, Guardian (Dec. 24, 2016), at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/24/israel-rejects-shameful-un-resolution-amid-criticism-of-netanyahu.

24 Eglash, supra note 21.

25 Beaumont, supra note 23.

26 UN SCOR, supra note 1, at 16.

27 Id.

28 Id.

29 House Speaker Ryan, Senator McCain Condemn U.S. Abstention on U.N.’s Israel Vote, Reuters (Dec. 23, 2016), at http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-un-ryan-idUSKBN14C220.

30 Id.

31 Eglash, supra note 21.

32 Jeremy Berke, Democrats Scorch Obama over UN Vote Condemning Israeli Settlements, Business Insider (Dec. 23, 2016), at http://www.businessinsider.com/un-israel-vote-obama-democrats-2016-12.

33 Rick Gladstone, Trump and U.N. Leader Discuss ‘Cooperation,’ N.Y. Times (Jan. 4, 2017), at https:// www.nytimes.com/2017/01/04/world/americas/united-nations-donald-trump-antonio-guterres.html.

34 Collinson, supra note 21.

35 White House Press Release, Statement by the Press Secretary (Feb. 2, 2017), at https:// www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/02/statement-press-secretary.

36 Peter Baker, Trump Adopts a Harder Line on Israeli Settlements, N.Y. Times (Feb. 10, 2017), at https:// www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/world/middleeast/trump-adopts-a-harder-line-on-israeli-settlements.html.

37 White House Press Release, Remarks by President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel in Joint Press Conference (Feb. 15, 2017), at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/15/remarks-president-trump-and-prime-minister-netanyahu-israel-joint-press.