Mahmoud Abbas Calls for Middle East Peace Conference in Mid-2018

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, on Tuesday, March 1, called for the United Nations to recognize Palestine as a full member while simultaneously presenting a six-point plan for establishing peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The special Security Council meeting titled 'The Situation in the Middle East and the Palestinian Issue' began with a speech by Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, who described the regional conditions as 'sensitive'; Nikolai Mladenov, the UN coordinator for the Middle East, also warned that the lack of peace has deepened the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. In this meeting, Mahmoud Abbas presented his six-point peace plan, which includes holding an international peace conference this year under the supervision of global and regional actors, mutual recognition of Israel and Palestine, negotiations on all contentious issues with the aim of reaching a permanent agreement, refraining from unilateral actions, the US refraining from moving its embassy to Jerusalem, and implementing the Arab peace initiative. He stated that recognizing the state of Palestine 'strengthens peace negotiations and is not contradictory to it,' adding that full membership for Palestinians in the UN 'provides the possibility for international defense of this nation.' According to Abbas, Palestinians 'have the courage to achieve peace,' but 'negotiations to realize goals and aspirations must be based on Security Council resolutions, and anything contrary to these resolutions is unacceptable.' The Palestinian Authority president accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of 'shying away from peace,' saying he and some others 'speak of a regional solution and marginalize the Palestinian issue.' This comes as the Israeli Prime Minister stated that Israeli-Palestinian peace talks could resume at any time and under any conditions, and Palestinians must accept Israel as 'a home for Jews.' US President Donald Trump also said two weeks ago that Palestinians are not ready for peace with Israel but added that there is also insufficient will for peace with Palestinians in Israel. Nevertheless, he expressed readiness to mediate peace. However, Mahmoud Abbas had previously stated that he no longer accepts the US as a peace mediator and called for a peace initiative from other international actors, including Europe; last month, he also refused to meet with Mike Pence, the US Vice President, who had visited the region, an act that Trump deemed 'continued disrespect from Palestinians' towards the US. In his speech on Tuesday at the Security Council, Abbas said, 'In several meetings with Donald Trump, we emphasized that we are ready to implement the two-state solution, but the US has not clearly stated its position.' Abbas referred to Trump's December 15 statement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, saying the US decided to remove the issue of Jerusalem from the negotiating table and move its embassy to that city. The US is ready to continue peace efforts but will not chase after the Palestinians. Nikki Haley, the US representative to the UN, stated that the US position on Jerusalem will not change. She also emphasized that the US is ready to continue peace efforts but will not chase after the Palestinians. She noted that the US peace plan, which has been worked on for the past year, is nearing completion. Haley expressed regret that Mahmoud Abbas left the meeting immediately after his speech without listening to the views of other speakers. Given the importance of the Security Council meeting and previous assessments regarding Abbas's statements, in addition to Haley, Jared Kushner, senior advisor to Donald Trump, and Jason Greenblatt, the US representative in Middle East negotiations, were also present at the meeting. Danny Danon, Israel's representative to the UN, who was present at the meeting, responded to Abbas's remarks by saying, 'You have clearly shown that you are not part of the solution; you are part of the problem.' According to Danon, Mahmoud Abbas has always sought 'excuses to shy away from peace, and this time he has resorted to the issue of recognition of Jerusalem by the US, while Donald Trump has emphasized a truth that should be clear to everyone; Jerusalem has been our capital since the time of Prophet David and will remain so forever.' The Israeli representative also stated that Mahmoud Abbas has always made 'anti-Jewish and inciting remarks' and has extended a hand of friendship to 'Hamas terrorists,' naming schools and public places after terrorists and using funds donated by countries to promote violence and hatred. According to the Israeli ambassador, although the distance from Ramallah to Jerusalem is only a few minutes, Mahmoud Abbas is not willing to make this short journey to meet with Benjamin Netanyahu but is willing to fly to New York and present his expectations at this meeting, asking the Security Council to accept his demands. According to Israeli media, the country's Foreign Ministry had previously asked both permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council to refrain from accepting Abbas's request for Palestine to be recognized as a full member of the UN. The Israeli Foreign Ministry stated that these actions undermine US efforts for peace and increase frustration regarding achieving peace.