Palestinians withdraw request for UNSC vote on US Mideast plan

UNITED NATIONS: The Palestinians have abandoned their request for a vote at the UN Security Council Tuesday on rejecting the US Mideast peace plan, over a lack of international support, diplomats said Monday. Introduced by Indonesia and Tunisia, the resolution risked not having nine out of 15 votes in its favor, the minimum required for adoption provided there is no veto by a permanent member, the diplomats told AFP.

The vote was scheduled to be held by the international body on Tuesday. Before Monday’s announcement, a resolution forwarded by the Palestinians condemning Washington’s vision for Middle East peace had already been watered down, dropping any mentions of the United States by name and couching its criticism in milder language than in the original.

Palestinian leaders are furious over the details of the so-called “Deal of the Century,” seen internationally as strongly biased in favor of Israel. The plan would put the Palestinian capital in a suburb of Jerusalem, rather than in East Jerusalem, and allow Israel to annex more than 130 Jewish settlements in the West Bank, as well as the Jordan Valley.

It has been roundly rejected by the Palestinians, the Arab League, and the Islamic Cooperation Organization. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was originally slated to hold a news conference in New York with former Israeli prime minister Ehud Ohlmert after the vote, according a statement from the Palestinian mission to the UN. But with this latest development, it remains unclear if the media event will commence as scheduled.

Last month US President Donald Trump unveiled a Middle East plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians which the Palestinians have rejected saying it is biased in favor of Israel. Under the plan, Israel would retain control of the disputed city of Jerusalem as its “undivided capital,” and annex settlements on Palestinian lands. Palestinians however want all of east Jerusalem to be the capital of any future state. The plan has also been rejected by the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

On Friday, Tunisia fired its ambassador to the UN accusing him of failing to consult the foreign ministry on key issues that diplomatic sources said included Washington’s controversial Middle East peace plan. “Tunisia’s ambassador to the United Nations has been dismissed for purely professional reasons concerning his weak performance and lack of coordination with the ministry on important matters under discussion at the UN,” a foreign ministry statement said.