image President Obama answers questions during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, one day after Republicans seized control of the U.S. Senate and captured their biggest majority in the House in more than 60 years.

US officials: Obama not to pressure Israel into peace talks with Palestinians

According to reports in the United States, President Barack Obama, in the short period of time left until the end of his term, does not intend to pressure Israel to return to the negotiating table with the Palestinians. Officials in Washington said that Obama has almost entirely negated any possibility or last-minute effort of reviving the talks between the sides and he intends to avoid any additional, final confrontation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Nevertheless, President Obama considers making a speech in which he would articulate his vision regarding a future peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians, while declaring his support of solutions that the United Nations might propose. Several initiatives are due to come before the UN Security Council for discussion and a vote before President Barack Obama leaves office.

On the agenda are three initiatives that greatly trouble Israel, proposed by New Zealand, the Palestinians and France. New Zealand, which is due to leave the Security Council at the end of the year, wishes to pass a resolution before Trump enters the White House, which will include a coalition for the two-state solution to the decades old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, condemnation of construction in the settlements, condemnation of incitement and violence on both sides, and reference to the humanitarian situation in Gaza.  The draft resolution will apparently be placed [before the Security Council] in the coming days.  The Palestinians are trying to promote a draft resolution that will state that the settlements are illegal, for all intents and purposes. Israeli officials fear that such a resolution will lay the groundwork for imposing sanctions and filing lawsuits against Israel in the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The third initiative is the French initiative, which calls to convene an international conference, which Israel has already announced that it will oppose. [Israel’s] objection stems from the fact that the initiative includes a time limit on the discussion, and states that if no agreement is reached during [the predetermined period], France will recognize a Palestinian state. Israeli officials assess that the US will veto the Palestinian and French initiatives, but it is not certain if Washington defines the New Zealand initiative as a unilateral move.