Dorothy Shea, the interim U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the U.N. Security Council that Resolution 2334 is “an impediment to this council’s work.”
(March 21, 2025 / JNS) United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which passed in 2016 when the Obama administration abstained in the waning days of the presidency and which calls Israeli settlement activity a “flagrant violation” with “no legal validity,” was “a mistake,” Dorothy Shea, the interim U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the global body on Friday.
“The stated purpose of this meeting is to report on the implementation of Resolution 2334, the passage of which was a mistake and whose ongoing discussion is a distraction from the real threats to international peace and security,” Shea said during the Security Council’s monthly meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian file. “Indeed, it is an impediment to this council’s work to address them.”
The U.S. envoy noted that Washington “has consistently said” that “the future of the Middle East must look different.”
“Fresh thinking is needed, for a better tomorrow for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” she said.
Shea appeared, however, to give credence to a debunked story that the Palestinian Authority agreed to end its “pay-for-slay” program, which gives salaries to Palestinian terrorists and their families based on the severity of their crimes. (JNS sought comment from the U.S. mission to the United Nations.)
“We welcome the announcement by the Palestinian Authority that it will end the practice of offering cash payments to the families of those who carry out terrorist attacks, which for far too long has incentivized violence against Israeli civilians and set back the prospects of peace,” Shea said.
While Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas said last month that the program would end, he later said at a Fatah party meeting that the authority would continue paying terrorists “even if we have only one cent left.”
Abbas added that those who carry out terror attacks against Israelis “are more precious than all of us combined,” and “I will never allow and you will never allow the reduction of any obligation, interest or cent that is given to them.” (Fatah removed video footage of the speech after uploading it.)
In her remarks, Shea gave backing to the Israel Defense Forces counterterrorism operations in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, saying that the U.S. “supports the efforts” of both the IDF and Palestinian Authority security forces “to root out violent extremists in Jenin and Tulkarem.”
Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, blasted the Palestinian Authority for failing to curb terror activities in its own areas, leaving it to Israel to do the job and get blamed for doing so.
Speaking during the Security Council meeting, Danon focused on Iran’s provision of weapons and other support to terror groups, such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operating in Judea and Samaria.
“The PA has attempted many counterterrorism operations to dismantle the terror networks entrenched in their backyard, but it has failed,” Danon said. “It has been unable to remove the terror groups controlling cities like Jenin and Tulkarem.”
Addressing Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Authority’s U.N. “permanent observer,” Danon said that Palestinians see the governing administration as “weak, corrupt and incapable of governance,” and “little more than a figurehead as your authority crumbles.”
Danon accused the authority of drawing resentment and distrust from its own people and being “unable to contain the threat that now faces Israeli civilians.” He added that “the PA quietly steps aside and leaves the job to us.”
The Israeli envoy also took unnamed Security Council members to task for comparing hostages held in Gaza to Palestinian security prisoners, who have been exchanged in release deals. Danon said that comparison is “outrageous” and “morally obscene.”
“The Israeli hostages are innocent men, women and children, abducted for no reason other than being Israeli or being in Israel,” Danon said. “In contrast, Palestinians who have been arrested by Israel are terrorists, many with blood on their hands. They have committed the most heinous acts of terror, from cold-blooded murder to producing suicide bombs to planning mass casualty attacks.”
He accused council members of equating the two groups of “intentionally promoting Hamas propaganda.”
The United Kingdom’s representative, who harshly criticized Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier this week for a statement on Gaza, said on Friday that “violent settlers must be held to account,” accusing Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria of fomenting unrest.
James Kariuki, London’s deputy U.N. ambassador, noted that the United Kingdom has introduced three rounds of sanctions on settlers and their supporters already.
“In the absence of sufficient Israeli action, we will consider all further options,” Kariuki threatened.
Eloy Alfaro de Alba, Panama’s U.N. envoy, countered that the “complexities” of the current situation in the region mean that the implementation of Resolution 2334 must take into account “legitimate security interests.”
21/03/2025 by JNS
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario