Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., December 18, 2008 Kislev 21, 5769 | | Israel Time: 04:54 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate GA 2008 Travel Week's End Anglo File
Last update - 23:13 16/12/2008
UN Security Council: Israel-PA peace process is irreversible
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent and The Associated Press
Tags: Israel News, United Nations 

The United Nations Security Council approved a resolution Tuesday stressing that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process initiated by the United States last year is irreversible and urging intensified efforts to achieve peace throughout the Middle East.

The vote was 14-0 with Libya abstaining because the resolution did not condemn Israel's siege on the Gaza strip and intensified settlement activities.

In an effort to grant the resolution special significance, the security council's session was attended by its member states' most senior diplomats.
Advertisement
The resolution - co-sponsored by the United States and Russia, which have recently been at odds - backs the determined efforts by Israel and the Palestinians to conclude a peace treaty and fulfill the vision that they can live peacefully side by side as independent democratic states.

The negotiating process launched by President George W. Bush at Annapolis, Maryland, in November 2007 called for the Israelis and Palestinians to try to end their decades-long conflict and sign a peace agreement by the end of 2008. That goal would have given Bush a diplomatic victory just before turning the presidency over to Barack Obama - but it was not to be.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said before the vote that all council members regret that an agreement won't be reached this year, but he said a serious process is underway and the international community must ensure that the negotiations achieve results.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN observer, expressed hope that the two sides will succeed in removing all obstacles and reach a peace treaty in 2009. He said the Palestinians are happy that the Security Council - which has not adopted a comprehensive resolution on the Mideast since November 2003 - is now engaged and will be supervising the peace process started in Annapolis.

In probably her last UN appearance, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the negotiations born at Annapolis give me confidence that the goal of independent Israeli and Palestinian states living in peace and security is not just a vision, but it is a commitment of the parties and of the international community.

"There can be no turning back the clock," she told the council.

"We have to continue on the chosen path," Rice said. "That chosen path will
finally bring for the Israelis the peace and security that can only come from living side by side in reconciliation with a democratic neighbor of Palestine - and that path forward will finally give to the dignified people of Palestine, the dignity and the humanity that can only come from living in their independent and sovereign state."

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that the issues at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are not easy and will require political will and also courage to resolve.

"We have to achieve this momentum for peace and maintain it," he stressed.

The resolution adopted Tuesday declares the council's support for the negotiations initiated at Annapolis and its commitment to the irreversibility of the bilateral negotiations. It supports the Israeli and Palestinian determined efforts to reach their goal of concluding a peace treaty resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues, without exception.

On Monday, the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers - the U.S., the U.N., the European Union and Russia - also said the Israeli-Palestinian negotiating process launched at Annapolis is irreversible and should be intensified to establish a Palestinian state as soon as possible.

In her remarks before the vote Tuesday, Rice stressed that Israel must halt settlement activity while the Palestinian Authority has an absolute obligation to dismantle the infrastructure of terror in its territories, reform its security services and end incitement.

The council resolution also notes the importance of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which calls for Arab recognition of the Jewish state in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from all lands captured in the 1967 Six Day War.

Israel objects to relinquishing all territory and the right of all Palestinians to return, and it wants to keep a unified Jerusalem as its capital.

The resolution urges an intensification of diplomatic efforts to foster in parallel with progress in the bilateral (Israeli-Palestinian) process mutual recognition and peaceful coexistence between all states in the region in the context of achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

Lavrov said Russia will "do our utmost to ensure that an international meeting on the Middle East in Moscow in 2009 takes an important step forward and ... speeds up the process of reaching an (Israeli-Palestinian) agreement."

Related articles:
  • UN to vote on resolution backing 'two-state vision'
  • 'Abbas vows to continue peace talks no matter who is elected Israeli PM'
  • Abbas to Haaretz: Peace deal would have to include right of return
    • Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Picking up the pieces
    U.S. Jews ponder 'catastrophic' effects of Bernard Madoff affair.
    Adolf Hitler, toddler
    Three-year-old Adolf Hitler finally gets his name on his birthday cake.
      1.   unsc celebrates 70th anniversary of czechoslovakia betrayal 11:36  |  victor hardman 16/12/08
      2.   Qurated must admit AIPAC support of SETTLEMENTS blocks peace! 13:19  |  Ivar 16/12/08
      3.   Yeah, yeh, bla, bla 15:58  |  Mark Lincoln 16/12/08
      4.   Israel-PA Talks 20:18  |  P. J. Casey 16/12/08
      5.   Under Public International Law Israel is not obliged 22:15  |  Honesty 16/12/08
      6.   The wheels have fallen off 22:31  |  Peter Williams 16/12/08
      7.   Where is God on this? 22:49  |  absolutely Right 16/12/08
      8.   Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows 23:31  |  Mark of Lewiston 16/12/08
      9.   conmdi proves her swansong of incompetence 23:45  |  victor hardman 16/12/08
      10.   Israel-PA PEACE a Sham 23:52  |  Baruch Gold 16/12/08
      11.   Mark at Number 3 00:16  |  Sean 17/12/08
      12.   Never say never! 00:21  |  A J Myers 17/12/08
      13.   UN: ISRAEL`S PIECE-BY-PIECE DISMANTLING PROCESS IRREVERSIBLE 00:22  |  G Marcus 17/12/08
      14.   It is reversible-Continuing from nothing will lead to nothing 00:41  |  Genuine Tosefta 17/12/08
      15.   Rice`s words exactly the same as Brezhniev`s 00:54  |  Boris 17/12/08
      16.   nothing`s in stone Ms. Rice 01:53  |  Mark 17/12/08
      17.   Useless rhetorics 02:27  |  FalluJah 17/12/08
      18.   The Administration which lied it`s way to war 02:57  |  Mark Lincoln 17/12/08
      19.   Not just Lybia Mark of Lewiston 03:00  |  Mark Lincoln 17/12/08
      20.   The UN should read the poll 03:04  |  Mark Lincoln 17/12/08
      21.   Boris 03:07  |  Mark Lincoln 17/12/08
      22.   Root Cause of ME Crisis is RELIGION 03:46  |  Shimon Cleopas 17/12/08
      23.   Rescue The Peace Process 03:58  |  Shimon Cleopas 17/12/08
      24.   Mark Lincoln # 11 04:18  |  American in NY 17/12/08
      25.   All in all, probably achieved a good effort given sensitivities 04:32  |  Smadar 17/12/08
      26.   Have they told Hamas the government of Palestine? 05:58  |  PETER SM. 17/12/08
      27.   Mark of Lewiston, "politics makes strange bedfellows" 11:27  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 17/12/08
      28.   What about that "democratic" Iraq? 15:22  |  lady from USA 17/12/08
      29.   To Lady from USA. 03:50  |  Magnus K. 18/12/08
     Read & React
    Jurists tell Barak: Don't shell Gaza population centers
    Responses: 229
    Olmert: Qassam attacks require a response, and there will be one
    Responses: 112
    3-year-old Adolf Hitler finally gets his name on his birthday cake
    Responses: 105
    Amira Hass: Hamas expects Israel to foil two-state solution
    Responses: 47
    Barak: Iran could attack the U.S. with a nuclear bomb
    Responses: 76


    More Headlines
    02:18 Knesset speaker, ex-Likud hawk capture top spots in Kadima primary
    01:18 Barak: Iran could attack U.S. with nuclear bomb
    03:21 IAF strikes targets in Gaza in response to Qassam fire
    00:32 Mofaz: Dispute between bus drivers definitely caused fatal Eilat crash
    02:56 Leftist U.S. Jewish group backs conscientious objectors who shun IDF enlistment
    01:55 Report: Jews of Yemen to be relocated following murder
    02:41 Bush shoe-throwing incident spawns viral games on the Web
    02:22 Britain steps up fight against West Bank settlements
    14:06 3-year-old Adolf Hitler finally gets his name on his birthday cake
    13:55 Russia to supply Lebanon with 10 MiG-29 fighter jets
    02:03 Barak to Haaretz: I was hurt by Amos Oz's words
    04:28 Jurists tell Barak: Don't shell Gaza population centers
    17:38 Hamas leader: No truce unless Israel eases Gaza restrictions
    02:07 Largest-ever number of ex-journalists may enter Knesset
    02:48 Government mulling proposal to repair Muslim holy sites
    Previous Editions
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    Summer in Israel
    Israeli style - Tzofim Chetz V'Keshet 2009
    Summer Camp in Israel
    The best place for your children this summer
    Living in Israel Studying in English
    Click & Meet our students from all around the world
    Fattal Hotel Chain
    Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel.
    Car rental in Israel
    Shlomo Sixt Receive $15.00 from our low rates.
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations
    Jewish Singles Personal Ads
    Find the love of your life on JDate.com
    Hebrew Summer courses
    From $39.95
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |
    Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel
    birthright Israel | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved