Ambassador Nikki Haley “will unquestionably veto” a “morally bankrupt” draft resolution on the violence between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza, she announced late Thursday.
“It is a grossly one-sided approach that is morally bankrupt and would only serve to undermine ongoing efforts toward peace between the Israelis and Palestinians,” Haley, the top U.S. diplomat at the United Nations, said in an evening statement.
Kuwait is circulating a draft resolution that demands Israel avoid “excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force” and calls on the U.N. to develop a plan to protect Palestinian civilians. It would also call for “ending the closure and the restrictions imposed by Israel on movement and access into and out of the Gaza Strip.” But the resolution makes no mention of Hamas, Haley noted, which has launched rockets into Israel in recent days in addition to spurring terrorist attacks against the border fence between Israel and Gaza.
“The resolution calls on Israel to immediately cease its actions in self-defense, but makes no mention of Hamas’ aggressive actions against Israeli security forces and civilians,” Haley said. “The resolution calls for immediate steps toward ending Israeli restrictions on access into Gaza, while making no mention of Egypt’s restrictions and no mention of Hamas’ deliberate attacks against Israel’s determined efforts to provide humanitarian access into Gaza at the Kerem Shalom crossing.”
Kuwait crafted the resolution while blocking a U.N. Security Council statement, introduced by the U.S. on Wednesday, that would have condemned Hamas for launching dozens of rockets into Israel this week. “[T]he mere fact that one of the rockets landed on a kindergarten playground is all the proof we need of the intentions of the terrorists,” Haley said Wednesday. “Hamas openly claims responsibility for this attack. They do so proudly.”
A vote on Kuwait’s draft resolution was expected to take place Thursday evening, but it was delayed after the U.S. reportedly proposed changes.
“We received very late amendments from a member-state, but we have to consider them,” said Mansour al-Otaibi, Kuwait’s ambassador to the UN, according to the Times of Israel.
The debate over Kuwait’s resolution is taking place in the context of a diplomatic fight about who has the standing to broker a peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and on what terms that settlement should take place. Palestinian officials argue that President Trump’s recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel disqualifies his administration from playing mediator. But Haley cited the Kuwaiti draft resolution as an opportunity to push back on other powers that might want to supplant the U.S. role.
“Those who choose to vote in favor of this resolution will clarify their own lack of fitness to take part in any credible negotiations between the two parties,” she said.
