Michael Snyder
(RINF) – Will a UN Security Council resolution formally recognizing the establishment of a Palestinian state be passed by the end of 2015? Now that the Vatican has formally recognized a Palestinian state, there is a tremendous amount of international momentum for precisely such a UN Security Council resolution. In fact, France plans to push really hard for one by the end of this year. At this point, the only thing that could derail those plans is Barack Obama. For years, the threat of a Security Council veto has been the one thing stopping a resolution from moving forward. But now that Benjamin Netanyahu has been re-elected and has put together a cabinet that does not seem inclined to negotiate with the Palestinians, the Obama administration is pledging to “reevaluate our approach” and says that it will not “prejudge” what it will do if a vote comes up at the United Nations. And as you will see below, one news source is now reporting that behind the scenes Barack Obama has already given the “green light” for France to go ahead with a resolution on a Palestinian state at the UN. If this is truly what Obama plans to do, it will absolutely shatter U.S. relations with Israel and plunge the entire Middle East into chaos.
Most Americans don’t realize this, but 136 countries already formally recognize a Palestinian state. Those 136 nations have a combined population of more than 5.5 billion people.
As of this moment, the major holdouts are the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and most of Europe. But most of the European nations have already indicated that they are ready to recognize a Palestinian state if the United States will. In fact, as I mentioned above, France plans to lead the push for a Palestinian state at the UN Security Council.
The “State of Palestine” already has “non-member observer” status at the UN, but obviously they are not satisfied with that. They have been very eager for formal recognition by the UN, and now that the Vatican has given them formal recognition that has really bolstered their cause. The following is from a CNN article about the Vatican announcement that stunned the world on Wednesday…
The Vatican announced Wednesday that it had brokered a treaty with the “state of Palestine,” upsetting Israeli advocates and propelling Pope Francis into the heart of yet another geopolitical fray.
The treaty is expected to be signed “in the near future,” the Vatican said. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, is scheduled to visit Pope Francis on Saturday, the day before the church canonizes two Palestinian nuns.
The treaty is thought to mark the first time the Holy See has formally recognized Palestinian statehood in a legal document.
Of course this didn’t come out of a vacuum. The truth is that the Vatican has been moving in this direction for quite some time. Just consider what the Washington Post had to say about the matter…
The move should not be too great a surprise. Since the U.N. General Assembly voted to recognize Palestine as a “non-member observer state” in 2012, the Vatican has referred to the “state of Palestine” in its communiques. When Pope Francis visited the Holy Land last year, the official Vatican program referred to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as the leader of the “state of Palestine.” And the pontiff publicly referred to the “state of Palestine” at a speech in the West Bank.
Now that the Vatican has done this, international pressure on Obama to support a UN Security Council resolution on a Palestinian state is increasing.
When the UN Security Council resolution being drafted by France comes up for a vote later this year, what will Obama do?
Well, according to Debka, Obama has already given the “green light” for France to move forward…
US President Barack Obama did not wait for Binyamin Netanyahu to finish building his new government coalition by its deadline at midnight Wednesday, May 6, before going into action to pay him back for forming a right-wing cabinet minus any moderate figure for resuming negotiations with the Palestinians.
Banking on Netanyahu’s assertion while campaigning for re-election that there would be no Palestinian state during his term in office, Obama is reported exclusively by our sources to have given the hitherto withheld green light to European governments to file a UN Security Council motion proclaiming an independent Palestinian state.
Not only that, Debka is also reporting that members of the Obama administration have actually traveled to France to help draft the resolution…
To show the administration was in earnest, senior US officials sat down with their French counterparts in Paris last week to sketch out the general outline of this motion. According to our sources, they began addressing such questions as the area of the Palestinian state, its borders, security arrangements between Israel and the Palestinians and whether or not to set a hard-and-fast timeline for implementation, or phrase the resolution as a general declaration of intent.
Incorporating a target date in the language would expose Israel to Security Council sanctions for non-compliance.
If what Debka is reporting is accurate, this represents a massive betrayal of Israel by the Obama administration.
However, the Jerusalem Post is reporting just the opposite. They are reporting that Obama plans to veto the French resolution…
US President Barack Obama has told associates that he intends to veto the French proposal for a UN Security Council resolution mandating the creation of a Palestinian state and an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank within two years, Channel 10 is reporting on Friday.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said this past March that Paris planned to start discussions with partners in the “coming weeks” on a United Nations Security Council resolution to lay out the parameters for ending the Middle East conflict.
“I hope that the partners who were reluctant will not be reluctant anymore,” said Fabius, referring to the United States, which has traditionally shielded its ally Israel from any action at the United Nations.
So what is the truth?
Only time will tell.
But what we do know is that Obama was absolutely furious when Netanyahu promised during his most recent campaign that there would not be a Palestinian state as long as he was in office.
And we do know that the Obama administration has pledged to “reevaluate our approach” and has said that it will not “prejudge what we would do if there was a U.N. action”…
The U.S. would “reevaluate our approach” based on Netanyahu’s “change in his position,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters as the president flew to Cleveland to deliver a speech on economic policy.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki raised the possibility that the reevaluation could include a shift in position at the U.N. She avoided the usual U.S. language about vetoing Security Council resolutions that Israel opposes.
“The prime minister’s recent statements call into question his commitment to a two-state solution,” Psaki told reporters. “We’re not going to prejudge what we would do if there was a U.N. action.”
In the final analysis it is so hard to tell exactly what Obama will do, because as he has shown over and over again, lying comes as naturally to him as breathing does.
However, I think that we can get some clues about how obsessed Obama is with the establishment of a Palestinian state from public statements that he has made throughout his presidency. The following quotes from Barack Obama regarding the need for a Palestinian state come from one of my previous articles…
#1 “Negotiations will be necessary, but there’s little secret about where they must lead: two states for two peoples”
#2 “And I think everybody understands the outlines of what a peace deal would look like, involving a territorial compromise on both sides based on ‘67 lines with mutually agreed upon swaps, that would ensure that Israel was secure but would also ensure that the Palestinians have a sovereign state in which they can achieve the aspirations that they’ve held for so long.”
#3 “The only way for Israel to endure and thrive as a Jewish and democratic state is through the realization of an independent and viable Palestine”
#4 “Neither occupation nor expulsion is the answer. Just as Israelis built a state in their homeland, Palestinians have a right to be a free people in their own land.”
#5 “Let me be clear: The United States strongly supports the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security. That is a goal shared by Palestinians, Israelis, and people of goodwill around the world. That is a goal that the parties agreed to in the road map and at Annapolis. That is a goal that I will actively pursue as President of the United States.”
#6 “…we continue to believe that a two-state solution is the only way for the long-term security of Israel, if it wants to stay both a Jewish state and democratic”
#7 “It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of her own, and lives with the presence of a foreign army that controls the movements of her parents every single day.”
#8 “None of us are under any illusion that this would be easy. As I said in my speech this morning, it has already entailed significant political risk by President Abbas, as well as Prime Minister Netanyahu. But I think the reason that they’ve been willing to take those risks is they realize this is the best way, the only way, for us to achieve what should be our goal: two states living side-by-side in peace and security. It’s right for Palestinian children. It’s right for Israeli children.”
#9 “Just as the Israeli people have the right to live in the historic homeland of the Jewish people, the Palestinian people deserve the right to self-determination. Palestinian children have hopes and dreams for their future and deserve to live with the dignity that can only come with a state of their own.”
#10 “The only solution is a democratic, Jewish state living side-by-side in peace and security with a viable, independent Palestinian state.”
In the end, I believe that Barack Obama is going to choose to betray Israel at the United Nations, and it will have very serious ramifications that will literally be felt all over the planet.
So what do you think? Please feel free to participate in the discussion by posting a comment below…