World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder Thanks US Administration for Backing Israel's Rights at the United Nations

NEW YORK, Feb. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder today expressed deep appreciation to the United States for voting down a UN Security Council resolution which would have unilaterally condemned Israel and termed its settlements east of the 1967 "Green Line" as "illegal." Lauder said President Obama's decision to veto the Arab-sponsored text showed America's support for the rights of the Jewish state and for the Middle East peace process. Had it been adopted, the resolution would have stood in violation of the Oslo II interim accords which still govern relations between the Palestinian Authority and the State of Israel and to which the United States, among many other Western countries, is a signatory.

Lauder called the proposed text "one-sided" and criticized the states which had sponsored it.  "The issue of settlements needs be negotiated bilaterally, in final-status talks, between Palestinians and Israelis. It is exclusively an issue for the two parties," the WJC president declared. He added that the adoption of this Security Council resolution would have placed the peace process in even greater jeopardy and lent credibility to illegitimate Palestinian "back door" efforts to establish a unilateral state by pre-determining the outcome of negotiations with Israel.

Ongoing unilateral moves to establish a Palestinian state outside the agreed negotiation framework between the sides, based on Security Council resolution 242 of November 1967, represent a gross violation of previous signed agreements between the PA and Israel, Lauder pointed out.

He added: "The resolution text that was proposed to the Security Council further promoted the fallacy that the 1967 borders have any basis in law or history. They never existed nor were they ever part of any agreed upon documentation concerning the Arab-Israeli conflict and have no basis whatsoever, neither in law nor in fact. The World Jewish Congress therefore urges the United Nations to stop undermining, condoning, and abetting efforts to assault Israel's legal and diplomatic rights in ongoing negotiations over the future of the disputed territories."

About the World Jewish Congress

The World Jewish Congress is the international organization representing Jewish communities in 92 countries around the world. The WJC serves as the diplomatic arm of the Jewish people to governments, parliaments and international organizations.

www.worldjewishcongress.org

SOURCE World Jewish Congress