Palestinian draft resolution calls on UN to demand Israeli withdrawal from ‘West Bank’ within 6 months

FM Katz threatens Israel could ‘break and dissolve’ PA if vote goes ahead

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Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz threatened to “break and dissolve” the Palestinian Authority if it moves ahead with a draft resolution calling for Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria within six months, the Times of Israel reported Tuesday.

According to Reuters, next week, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) “is likely” to vote on the Palestinian resolution calling on Israel to end “its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” within six months.

UNGA also demands a stop to the building of Israeli settlements and their evacuation, “the return of Palestinians to their land” and reparations, sanctions on senior Israeli officials, and the suspension of the sale of weapons that could be used against Palestinians.

The resolution is based on an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last June, which declared Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria (West Bank) illegal.

The Arab Group, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement asked the 193-member UN General Assembly to vote on the resolution, the wording of which could be amended before the scheduled vote on Sept. 18.

Last week, Katz decided on several measures to combat the diplomatic offensive against Israel, according to the Times of Israel. The foreign ministry was instructed to prepare responses that would correspond to the severity of the wording in the final resolution.

“If the Palestinian Authority acts against Israel in complete contradiction to the commitments it undertook in the interim arrangements that were signed, Israel will act in the same way and stop all cooperation with the PA and bring about its dissolution,” Katz stated.

“If this resolution passes in the General Assembly, especially on the one-year anniversary of the October 7th massacre – the deadliest attack against Jews since the Holocaust – it will be a reward for terrorism and a message to the world that the barbaric slaughter of children, the rape of women and the kidnapping of innocent civilians is a worthwhile tactic,” Israel’s UN envoy, Danny Danon, argued.

“I call on the General Assembly to reject this disgraceful resolution outright, and instead adopt a resolution condemning Hamas and calling for the immediate release of all hostages. Let it be clear: nothing will stop Israel or deter it from its mission to bring home the hostages and eliminate Hamas.”

A resolution by the 193-member UNGA is not legally binding but is seen as a significant indicator of world opinion.