Blumenthal Statement on U.N. Security Council Resolution Vote on Israel

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the author, released the following statement today ahead of an expected U.N. Security Council vote on Israel:

“Support for Israel on this issue has been and will continue to be strongly bipartisan. Consistent with past policy, this Administration must now veto this most recent misguided and one-sided attempt backed by the Palestinian Authority to isolate Israel and weaken the peace process,” Blumenthal said. “The draft United Nations resolution directly contradicts the Senate resolution I authored – and passed unanimously last year – condemning Palestinian terrorism and calling on all parties to return to the negotiating table immediately and without preconditions. Direct discussions remain the best avenue to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This United Nations resolution would undermine, if not undo, the chances for productive discussions between the two sides.”

Blumenthal authored Senate Resolution S. 302, a bipartisan resolution that expresses solidarity with Israel and condemns Palestinian terrorist attacks. This resolution passed the Senate by unanimous consent in November 2015, with 68 cosponsors.

In September 2016, Blumenthal also introduced a bipartisan resolution with U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) expressing support for and reaffirming longstanding United States policy in support of a direct bilaterally negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and opposition to United Nations Security Council resolutions imposing a solution to the conflict.

In recent months, Blumenthal has joined his colleagues in sending multiple letters opposing any one-sided actions seeking to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the United Nations instead of direct negotiations.

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