In yet another anti-Israel measure in the United Nations, Secretary General António Guterres is expected to release, for the first time next week, a written report against Israeli settlements beyond the Green Line. The report is an extension of Resolution 2334 and was produced due to pressure on Guterres applied by Sweden and France.
Resolution 2334 determined that Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights were illegal. The resolution was passed during the Obama administration when, counter to longstanding policy, the U.S. abstained rather than vetoing it when it was proposed.
According to the resolution, every three months the secretary-general must provide the Security Council with a report on its implementation. Thus far, the secretary-general hasn't issued a written report, sufficing instead with an oral report from his Middle East envoy, Nickolay Mladenov. In recent weeks, however, the French and Swedes have pushed behind the scenes for Guterres to produce a written report, exploiting the mass protests on the Gaza border and condemnations of Israel to enlist support from 10 Security Council member-states – the number obligating the secretary general to issue a written report.
Guterres' report is expected to focus on Israeli construction beyond the Green Line; particularly, among other things, on how many new structures have been built.
Other countries who supported the call for a written report are China, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Holland and Peru. On the other hand, Russia, the United States, Great Britain, Poland and Ethiopia abstained from supporting the motion.
"While Israel and the U.S. are leading the condemnation of Hamas' murderous terrorism against civilians, some elements continue to promote disgraceful anti-Israel measures whose sole purpose is to harm Israel and perpetuate the obsession against it," said Israel's Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon.
On Thursday, meanwhile, American diplomats said the U.S. was poised to quit the U.N. Human Rights Council, saying talks over reforming the forum had failed to meet Washington's demands.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley publicly told the Council a year ago that Washington might leave the body unless a "chronic anti-Israel bias" was corrected.
