Will they take a step back?
The chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Abu Mazen, spoke by phone today (Saturday) with the American Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. The American side initiated the conversation, and it is a deal with the Palestinians' decision to turn to the UN Security Council to discuss the proposal to condemn the construction in the settlements.
A discussion on the issue is expected to be held on Monday this week.
A Palestinian official told "Israel Today" that in recent days there have been attempts by officials in the American administration to convince the Palestinian leadership to withdraw the proposal and withdraw from this move.
In the conversation between the two, Abu Mazo demanded that the Americans intervene quickly and actively, and pressure Israel to stop its "dangerous steps", in what would open a political horizon based on the implementation of the two-state solution and the UN resolutions.
Will the Americans slow down?
Discussion in the UN Security Council (archive), photo: AFP
"Israel must be forced to stop all its unilateral steps, including the construction in the settlements, the demolition of the houses, the entry into the Palestinian cities and Al-Aqsa, the killings, and its reneging on the signed agreements," Abu Mazen told Blinken.
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, "Blinken indicated that he would hold talks with the Israeli government, and that the administration would continue its efforts to prevent unilateral actions."
The conversation also dealt with security tensions.
The administration will talk to the government.
Blinken and Netanyahu at their meeting in Jerusalem, January 2023, photo: E.P
As I recall, the Palestinian move came in response to the Israeli announcement at the beginning of the week about the training of nine outposts in Judea and Samaria and the construction of thousands of housing units in the West Bank. In a traditional way, until now it has usually vetoed proposals for a resolution against Israel of this type that are brought to a vote.
One of the exceptional cases was in December 2016 when the Obama administration, just before its replacement, did not veto a proposal to condemn Israeli construction in the West Bank, and it did pass. This point was the peak of the low point between the Netanyahu government at the time and the Obama administration.
It should be noted that in recent days there has been an Israeli diplomatic effort to prevent a vote on the issue, as well as attempts to convince various countries to oppose the condemnation proposal.
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