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.