December 31, 2016
American Jewish Committee Chicago applauds the Chicago Tribune’s Wednesday editorial criticizing the U.S. decision to abstain on a U.N. Security Council resolution that singles out Israel for condemnation. The administration’s decision, for the first time in eight years, not to block an anti-Israel measure at the U.N. Security Council is profoundly disturbing because it encourages Palestinian diplomatic end-runs and diversionary tactics, hindering rather than advancing prospects for peace. This measure repeats the Palestinian falsehood that Israeli settlements are the core of the conflict. Let’s be clear: The chief obstacle to achieving peace is, and has long been, the stubborn refusal of the Palestinian leadership to recognize Israel’s legitimacy and to negotiate a comprehensive agreement in good faith.
Security Council members supporting the resolution do not further the cause of peace by letting the Palestinians off the hook for their chronic shortsightedness and inaction. Encouraging the misguided Palestinian strategy of doing everything possible to avoid talking to Israel and at the same time accumulating resolutions against Israel at the U.N. and other international bodies is not the way to achieve a sustainable peace that will benefit both Israelis and Palestinians. Isn’t it time to face reality?
— Amy Stoken, director, AJC Chicago
This article was originally published by Chicago Tribune.
