Irresolute about the resolution

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on the eve of his talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Rome that Israel does not accept any UN-imposed deadline for ending his country’s occupation of the West Bank.

“We will not accept attempts to dictate to us unilateral moves on a limited timetable,” declared Netanyahu before he left for Rome for talks with Kerry, on Monday.

In other words, Netanyahu continues to show blatant disregard for the mandate of the UN and for international law, in the process leaving ceasing the occupation of Palestinian territories an open-ended issue nearly half a century after it was declared illegal.

If Netanyahu’s wish is allowed to reach its logical conclusion, it will be another half a century before the Palestinians could just entertain the thought of having their own state on Palestinian soil.

Palestinians, together with the Arab states, want nothing short of the draft Arab resolution asking for an end to the Israeli occupation within two years, to be put to the vote by the UN Security Council before the end of the year.

France, Britain and Germany have their own thoughts about the subject; they are stitching together an alternative draft resolution prescribing a two-year time frame for Palestinians and Israelis to reach peace, presumably successfully, without linking such outcome to the end of the Israeli occupation.

Jordan, which occupies the Arab seat at the UN Security Council, circulated a draft resolution containing the principles of the Arab draft resolution, but did not call for a vote, awaiting the end of Kerry’s round of talks with all stakeholders on the subject.

Against this backdrop, it might be that the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab states could agree to suspend their draft resolution in return for something sensible from the US and other supporters of Israel, some proposal that envisions an end to the Israeli occupation at a definite point in time and requires holding serious, for a change, peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians with a clear vision of the outcome.