Netanyahu hopes for continued US support for Israel at UN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed hope Tuesday that the United States will continue to support Israel at the United Nations by opposing all resolutions on the creation of a Palestinian state.
Addressing the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Washington's most influential pro-Israel lobbying group, Netanyahu also said he was ready to "immediately" resume direct negotiations with the Palestinians.

"A Security Council resolution to pressure Israel would further harden Palestinian positions and thereby could actually kill the chances of peace for many, many years," Netanyahu said via satellite video link from Jerusalem.

"And that is why I hope the United States will maintain its long-standing position to reject such a UN resolution."

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has stalled completely since US mediation efforts failed in April 2014, and relations between Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama are notoriously rocky.

Since then, Israel has worried that Washington, frustrated by the lack of progress since 2009, would abandon its historic support for Israel in the final months of the Obama administration in international bodies such as the UN's Security Council.

The White House warned last year that it would reassess its policies and might withdraw its diplomatic cover at the world body.

As Vice President Joe Biden headed to Israel earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal quoted senior US officials as saying the White House was working on plans for reviving peace talks and for a possible resolution, which could be outlined at Obama's final appearance at the UN General Assembly in the autumn.

The United States has traditionally vetoed resolutions at the UN Security Council opposed by Israel.

Netanyahu told an audience of 15,000 at AIPAC that "peace won't come through the UN Security Council but through direct negotiations between the parties."

"I'm ready to begin such negotiations immediately, without preconditions, anytime, anywhere. That's a fact," he said.
Source: AFP