BICOM

US President Barack Obama yesterday spoke to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in an effort to induce him to withdraw a resolution set to be discussed and voted on by the UN Security Council today. The resolution would condemn all West Bank settlements as illegal and refer to them as an obstacle to a two-state solution. The US hopes to avoid a vote that will compel it to use its veto power, even when its stated policy opposes the continuation of settlement construction. According to a report in Haaretz, the US president asked Abbas to withdraw the resolution and instead to accept a non-binding statement from the Security Council presidency condemning settlement activity. Abbas is set to convene the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and of Fatah today to discuss whether to accede to Obama’s request.

According to Haaretz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said to Washington that Israel could accept a strong condemnation from the Security Council presidency, but that Jerusalem would hope, and expect, that the US would veto the resolution if it is brought to a vote. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has also spoken to Abbas this week and US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice has met with representatives of Arab states supporting the resolution in an effort to secure its withdrawal. Pro-Israel politicians in the US, meanwhile, were critical of the Obama Administration for offering a compromise to the Palestinians – calling instead for the US to allow the resolution to be tabled and then to use its veto to ensure its failure.