SR 574 First Engrossed (ntc)
2017574e1
1 Senate Resolution
2 A resolution opposing United Nations Security Council
3 Resolution 2334 and requesting its repeal or
4 fundamental alteration.
5
6 WHEREAS, the United States has long supported a negotiated
7 settlement leading to a sustainable two-state solution with the
8 democratic, Jewish state of Israel and a demilitarized,
9 democratic Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and
10 security, and
11 WHEREAS, since 1993, the United States has facilitated
12 direct, bilateral negotiations between both parties toward
13 achieving a two-state solution and ending all outstanding
14 claims, and
15 WHEREAS, it is the long-standing policy of the United
16 States that a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian
17 conflict will only come through direct, bilateral negotiations
18 between the two parties, and
19 WHEREAS, it was the long-standing position of the United
20 States to oppose and, if necessary, veto United Nations Security
21 Council resolutions dictating additional binding parameters on
22 the peace process, and
23 WHEREAS, it was also the long-standing position of the
24 United States to oppose and, if necessary, veto one-sided or
25 anti-Israel United Nations Security Council resolutions, and
26 WHEREAS, the United States has stood in the minority
27 internationally over successive administrations in defending
28 Israel in international forums, including vetoing one-sided
29 resolutions in 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, and
30 2011 before the United Nations Security Council, and
31 WHEREAS, the United States recently signed a new memorandum
32 of understanding with the Israeli government regarding security
33 assistance, consistent with long-standing support for Israel
34 among successive administrations and Congresses and representing
35 an important United States commitment toward Israel’s
36 qualitative military edge, and
37 WHEREAS, on November 29, 2016, the United States House of
38 Representatives unanimously passed House Concurrent Resolution
39 165, expressing and reaffirming long-standing United States
40 policy in support of a direct, bilaterally negotiated settlement
41 of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in opposition to United
42 Nations Security Council resolutions that impose a solution to
43 the conflict, and
44 WHEREAS, on December 23, 2016, the United States Permanent
45 Representative to the United Nations disregarded House
46 Concurrent Resolution 165 and departed from long-standing United
47 States policy by abstaining and permitting United Nations
48 Security Council Resolution 2334 to be adopted under Chapter VI
49 of the United Nations Charter, and
50 WHEREAS, the United States’ abstention on United Nations
51 Security Council Resolution 2334 contradicts the Oslo Accords
52 and its associated process that is predicated on resolving the
53 Israeli-Palestinian conflict between the parties through direct,
54 bilateral negotiations, and
55 WHEREAS, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334
56 claims that “the establishment by Israel of settlements in the
57 Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East
58 Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant
59 violation under international law and a major obstacle to the
60 achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and
61 comprehensive peace,” and
62 WHEREAS, by referring to the “4 June 1967 lines” as the
63 basis for negotiations, United Nations Security Council
64 Resolution 2334 effectively states that the Jewish Quarter of
65 the Old City of Jerusalem and the Western Wall, Judaism’s
66 holiest site, are “occupied territory,” thereby equating these
67 sites with outposts in the West Bank which the Israeli
68 government has deemed illegal, and
69 WHEREAS, passage of United Nations Security Council
70 Resolution 2334 effectively legitimizes efforts by the
71 Palestinian Authority to impose its own solution through
72 international organizations and unjustified boycotts or
73 divestment campaigns against Israel by calling “upon all States,
74 bearing in mind paragraph 1 of this resolution, to distinguish,
75 in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State
76 of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967,” and will
77 require the United States and Israel to take effective action to
78 counteract the resolution’s potential harmful impacts, and
79 WHEREAS, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334
80 did not directly call upon Palestinian leadership to fulfill
81 their obligations toward negotiations or mention that part of
82 the eventual Palestinian state is currently controlled by Hamas,
83 a designated terrorist organization, and
84 WHEREAS, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334
85 sought to impose or unduly influence solutions to final-status
86 issues and is biased against Israel, NOW, THEREFORE,
87
88 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
89
90 That the Florida Senate finds that:
91 (1) The passage of United Nations Security Council
92 Resolution 2334 undermined the long-standing position of the
93 United States to oppose and veto United Nations Security Council
94 resolutions that seek to impose solutions to final-status issues
95 or are one-sided and anti-Israel, reversing decades of
96 bipartisan agreement.
97 (2) The passage of United Nations Security Council
98 Resolution 2334 undermines the prospect of Israelis and
99 Palestinians resuming productive, direct, bilateral
100 negotiations.
101 (3) The passage of United Nations Security Council
102 Resolution 2334 contributes to the politically motivated acts of
103 boycotting, divesting from, and sanctioning Israel and
104 represents a concerted effort to extract concessions from Israel
105 outside of direct, bilateral negotiations between the Israelis
106 and Palestinians, which must be actively rejected.
107 (4) Any future measures taken by any organization,
108 including the United Nations Security Council, to impose an
109 agreement or parameters for an agreement will set back the peace
110 process, harm the security of Israel, contradict the enduring
111 bipartisan consensus on strengthening the United States-Israel
112 relationship, and weaken support for such organizations.
113 (5) A durable and sustainable peace agreement between
114 Israel and the Palestinians is only possible with direct,
115 bilateral negotiations between the parties resulting in a
116 Jewish, democratic state living next to a demilitarized
117 Palestinian state in peace and security.
118 (6) The United States government should work to facilitate
119 serious, direct, unconditional negotiations between the parties
120 toward a sustainable peace agreement.
121 (7) The United States government should oppose and veto
122 future one-sided, anti-Israel United Nations Security Council
123 resolutions that seek to impose solutions to final-status
124 issues.
125 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Florida Senate opposes and
126 requests the repeal of United Nations Security Council
127 Resolution 2334 or the fundamental alteration of the resolution
128 so that it:
129 (1) Is no longer one-sided and anti-Israel.
130 (2) Authorizes all final-status issues toward a two-state
131 solution to be resolved through direct, bilateral negotiations
132 between the parties involved.
133 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be
134 presented to the President of the United States, the President
135 and Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Clerk
136 of the United States House of Representatives, and the Israeli
137 Embassy in Washington, D.C., for transmission to the proper
138 authorities of the State of Israel as a tangible token of the
139 sentiments expressed herein.