Spotlight: Palestinians seek more gains after settlement vote, Israel fears the worst

Palestinians look forward to building on the recent UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlement activity, while Israel expressed fear of more international steps against it.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki on Monday told the official Voice of Palestine radio that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) will seek the help of law experts to utilize what was incorporated in the UNSC resolution against settlements.

Malki explained that it has now become possible to act against institutions and companies that deal with settlements.

He added "we can return to the International Criminal Court (ICC) with more courage now, to pressure it and demand speeding up its procedures regarding Israeli settlements since the UNSC resolution is binding."

The foreign minister said that it has now become possible for any Palestinian who was affected by the settlement building to consider seriously pursuing legal action against political leaders in Israel who ordered settlement construction on their land.

He pointed out that the Palestinian leadership is considering a series of steps in the coming period, including going to Switzerland, which is the dignitary of the Geneva conventions to assess Israel's commitment to the implementation of those agreements.

He said that the Palestinian leadership is preparing a comprehensive vision by the new year in order to end the Israeli occupation.

Fatah party's Central Committee member and former negotiator Mohammad Ishtayeh said that a national team will be formed to document land confiscation, settlement construction and seizure of water resources besides other illegal Israeli actions on the ground."

Ishtayeh said in a statement that the team will be formed together with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Palestinian territories (OCHA) as part of the implementation of the recent Security Council resolution against settlements that called for incorporating the international community in monitoring settlement activities and combating them, and submitting a periodic report to the UN secretary general about the matter.

The UNSC adopted Friday night a resolution against Israeli settlement activity with a majority of 14 votes and one abstention by the U.S.

The resolution was submitted to the voting session by Venezuela, Senegal, Malaysia and New Zealand after it was postponed by Egypt, the Arab bloc representative at the Security Council.

Ishtayeh highlighted that this UN resolution would "open new doors for Palestinian diplomatic endeavor, being an international recognition of the illegality of settlements and that its continuation is no longer acceptable."

Although the resolution is under the non-binding article 6, the door is still open to present a new resolution against settlements under article 7 to make it binding, said Ishtayeh.

He added that "the resolution allows us to activate international boycott and encourages us to request from European states to take steps against settlers who hold European citizenships who are living on illegal settlements."

Ishtayeh applauded the U.S. administration that allowed passing the resolution by abstaining and not using the veto against it, and said "it was able to offer something to Palestine, in the last quarter of its tenure."

In the same time, Ishtayeh said that the UNSC against settlements is additionally important because it would become a reference to the French initiative to hold an international peace conference in Paris mid January.

"Israel used to say that Jerusalem is a unified capital and that 1967 borders are not the final borders, claiming rights in the Palestinian territories, but now the world stab something else," said Ishtaye in his statement.

He called on Europe to adopt the French initiative to become a European initiative, underscoring that "the Palestinian leadership wants it to succeed and to show a new model of multi-lateral negotiations as opposed to bilateral negotiations, which failed over the past years, and to put the Palestinian cause as a top priority to the international community."

The senior member of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party said that "the insanity in the political corridors in Israel after the UNSC resolution comes because it is aware of the importance of this resolution; it is the international comity that established Israel and it could, with Palestinian efforts, establish the Palestinian state."

This comes as Israeli political sources expressed concern that outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama would "slap Israel again" before he leaves the White House in about three weeks.

The Israeli public radio reported that the Israeli cabinet discussed in an urgent meeting Sunday night the possibility that Obama would push another UNSC resolution regarding setting new criteria to resume peace talks between Palestine and Israel.

The radio station added that political arenas in Israel fear another slam by the international peace conference expected in Paris next month.

"There is a real confrontation now between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as all masks have fallen down," mentioned the radio station.

Netanyahu said Sunday night that he rejects the UNSC resolution against settlement and Israel cannot accept it.

Prior to those statements, Netanyahu met with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro to discuss the U.S. abstention to veto the resolution.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry declared that it summoned the ambassadors of the states that voted in favor of the anti-settlements resolution for reprimanding them.

The issue of settlements is considered one of the most complicates issues of the Palestinian - Israeli conflict and a reason for freezing peace talks between the two sides. Endit