The Americans have failed to bring their Israeli ally to the negotiating table with the Palestinians. Benjamin Netanyahu's government has succeeded in getting everything that it wants: It has brushed off American pressure to stop building in the illegal colonies on the West Bank, and it has ignored successive attempts by the Americans to start substantive peace talks, commented a UAE daily.
"The Arabs cannot accept this outrageous unhindered continuation of the occupation, so the Arab League has decided to seek a UN Security Council resolution against construction of Israeli colonies on Palestinian land. Such a resolution will confirm the illegal nature of the building and will require Israel to stop building, and it will seek to rebuild an international consensus that Israel should observe international law, and also move towards peace talks based on the two state solution", said Gulf News in its today's editorial. The moment this resolution comes to the UN Security Council, Barack Obama's administration will have a chance to prove to the world that it agrees that the colonies are illegal.
"The bizarre way in which the Obama administration has backtracked on its first position has deeply worried the Arab world", the paper said. When Obama was campaigning for president, it was clear that he favoured peace based on the conditions contained in the Arab Peace Initiative: which came down to complete withdrawal for complete peace.
"For the first few months of Obama's administration, this was still the official American position, but then it began to shift, and weaken under Israeli pressure. It is now not clear if the Obama Administration has any of its early bilateralism left, or if it has become completely Israeli. The way to resolve any doubts, and to reaffirm America's support for international law, would be for the Obama administration to vote in favour of a resolution condemning building in the colonies", it concluded.
