'US failed to convince Israel to halt settlement building'
Palestinian Authority UN observer says Palestinians are seeking UN resolution demanding Israel immediately stop all settlement activities.
Riyad Mansour 298.88(photo credit: AP)ByASSOCIATED PRESSUNITED NATIONS — The Palestinians are seeking a UN resolution demanding that Israel immediately stop all settlement activities because the United States has failed to convince the Israelis to halt construction, the top Palestinian diplomat at the United Nations said Friday.Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Authority UN observer, told The Associated Press that all countries except Israel support an immediate end to settlement building: It's "191 countries versus one, Israel."RELATED:Peace talks are officially dead: It’s time for Plan BWhere the negotiations could be usefulHe said the Palestinians believe a Security Council resolution could create enough "critical pressure to bring Israel into compliance with this global consensus and therefore to stop all their settlement activities."The resolution puts the Obama administration in a difficult position because a veto would anger the Palestinians and its many supporters in the Arab world and elsewhere, while an abstention would anger Israel. Either way, the US vote could complicate efforts to resume direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.Mansour said representatives of key Arab, Islamic and Palestinian groups have been discussing the timing and strategy to win Security Council approval for the resolution and have been meeting with ambassadors from the 15 council nations.The resolution's supporters are hoping "to convince the United States that there is value to this ... that they be on board," he said.Mansour said he hopes the text can be finalized next week so the Security Council can take action by Jan. 19, when it is scheduled to hold its monthly meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian problem and other Mideast issues.The draft resolution calls on Israel and the Palestinians to continue negotiations and resolve all final status issues by September 2011 as called for by the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers — the US, the UN, the European Union and Russia. It also urges intensified international and regional diplomatic efforts "to support and accelerate the peace process."Karean Peretz, spokeswoman for Israel's UN Mission, stressed Thursday that "the only road to peace" is through direct negotiations.She accused the Palestinians of repeatedly bypassing direct talks during the past year, which "only move us further away from returning to the negotiation table and reaching a two-state solution."RECOMMENDED STORIESOver 700 Israelis left houseless, IDF fighter jets strike nuclear targets in TehranJUNE 15, 2025Israel's airspace closed: How to enter, leave the Jewish state during Iran escalationsJUNE 15, 2025Behind the scenes: Iran turns to mediators in attempt to broker ceasefireJUNE 15, 2025Starlink operating in Iran, Elon Musk says, as Islamic regime shuts internet downJUNE 14, 2025Hot OpinionIsrael acted - now it's time for the Iranian people to riseByJPOST EDITORIALNetanyahu achieved his life's work by stopping a nuclear Iran, now it's time to resignByDAVID BRINNArab states condemn Israeli strikes as relations with Iran thawBySETH J. FRANTZMANIsrael had a window of opportunity to attack Iran and it was right to use it -ByYAAKOV KATZ