Watch Live: UN debates Middle East and the Palestinian question
The Security Council passed a resolution last month demanding an end to settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
By JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: JANUARY 17, 2017 17:09Watch Live: UN debates Middle East and the Palestinian question
The United Nations Security Council was set to hold an open debate on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, on Tuesday.The Security Council passed a resolution last month demanding an end to settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The United States abstained from the vote, but the resolution was allowed to pass when the Obama administration refrained from using its veto on the measure.Tweets by tovahlazaroff Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who accused outgoing US President Barack Obama of being behind the resolution, has expressed concern that the US could allow another resolution, dictating the parameters of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, to pass before the end of Obama's tenure on Friday.These concerns appeared to be partly diffused on Sunday, when US Secretary of State John Kerry called Netanyahu to tell him there wold be no follow-up to Sunday's Paris Peace conference at the Security Council.The statement issued at the end of the Paris conference made no reference to a further Security Council resolution, but did call for a follow-up conference by the end of the year “to support both sides in advancing the two-state solution through negotiations.”The declaration also included a “call on each side... to refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of negotiations on final-status issues, including, inter alia, on Jerusalem, borders, security, refugees and which they will not recognize.”Herb Keinon contributed to this report.