BREAKING NEWS

State Department: US will consider all options to reach two-state solution

APRIL 14, 2016 22:16

Updated: APRIL 15, 2016 18:04

WASHINGTON -- The United States will consider turning to the United Nations Security Council over its concerns with Israel's settlement activity or with regard to a general stall in negotiations toward a final-status solution with the Palestinians, the State Department said on Thursday.

"We understand that there is an early draft that the Palestinians have shared informally in New York," State Department spokesperson John Kirby said, asked by The Jerusalem Post to clarify whether the US would consider voting for or declining to veto a resolution addressing Israel's settlement activity in the West Bank.

"We are very concerned about trends on the ground and we do have a sense of urgency about the two-state solution. We will consider all of our options for advancing our shared objective of lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, but I’m not going to comment on a draft Security Council resolution."

At least two resolutions are currently under the pen related to the decades-old conflict: One being spearheaded by the Palestinian Authority, another by the French government.

The Palestinian draft would have the Security Council state it's opposition to Israel's settlement activity in the West Bank— a position held by each individual permanent member of the Council.

The Paris-led initiative would have the Security Council outline parameters of a two-state solution. Democrats and Republicans alike, including Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton, oppose this approach and warn that imposing solutions from without would prove counterproductive.

But the White House said last year it was willing to review its policy toward the conflict in the United Nations, and it has yet to explicitly rule out such an approach. Israeli government leadership has not received assurances that the Obama administration would oppose either or both resolutions, The Jerusalem Post learned last month.

Trepidation over the issue has apparently affected negotiations over a new decade-long US defense package to Israel.

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