III 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 6 

Objecting to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 and to all 

efforts that undermine direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians for a secure and peaceful settlement. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 4, 2017 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. 

MORAN, Mr. NELSON, Mr. COTTON, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. GRAHAM, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. ERNST, Mr. COONS, 

Mr. YOUNG, Mr. BENNET, Mr. HELLER, Mr. CASEY, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. 

DONNELLY, Mr. MCCAIN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. RISCH, Mr. PETERS, Mr. 

WYDEN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. 

ROBERTS, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. BARRASSO, Ms. COLLINS, 

Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. BOOKER, and Mrs. CAPITO) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Objecting to United Nations Security Council Resolution 

2334 and to all efforts that undermine direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians for a secure 

and peaceful settlement. 

Whereas it is long-standing policy of the United States Government that a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must come through direct, bilateral negotiations without preconditions for a sustainable two-state 

solution; 


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•SRES 6 IS 

Whereas President Barack Obama expressed before the 

United Nations General Assembly in 2011 that ‘‘peace 

will not come through statements and resolutions at the 

United Nations—if it were that easy, it would have been 

accomplished by now’’; 

Whereas Yasser Arafat committed by letter dated September 

9, 1993, to then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, ‘‘The 

PLO commits itself to the Middle East peace process and 

to the peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two 

sides and declares that all outstanding issues relating to 

permanent status will be resolved by negotiation.’’; 

Whereas the United Nations has taken a long-standing biased 

approach towards Israel, confirmed in outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon’s final address to the 

United Nations Security Council, when he described the 

‘‘disproportionate’’ volume of resolutions targeting Israel 

and stated that ‘‘decades of political maneuvering have 

created a disproportionate number of resolutions, reports, 

and committees against Israel’’; 

Whereas the United Nations is not the appropriate venue and 

should not be a forum used for seeking unilateral action, 

recognition, or dictating parameters for a two-state solution, including the status of Jerusalem; 

Whereas it is long-standing practice of the United States 

Government to oppose and veto any United Nations Security Council resolution dictating terms, conditions, and 

timelines on the peace process; 

Whereas it is also the historic position of the United States 

Government to oppose and veto one-sided or anti-Israel 

resolutions at the United Nations Security Council; 


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Whereas efforts to impose a solution or parameters for a solution will make negotiations more difficult and will set 

back the cause of peace; 

Whereas the Obama Administration’s decision not to veto 

United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016) 

is inconsistent with long-standing United States policy 

and makes direct negotiations more, not less, challenging; 

Whereas several United States administrations have articulated principles as a vision for achieving a two-state solution, including addressing borders, mutual recognition, 

refugees, Jerusalem, and ending all outstanding claims; 

Whereas Israel is a vibrant democracy whose leaders are 

elected and accountable to the Israeli people; and 

Whereas the Palestinian Authority must engage in broad, 

meaningful, and systemic reforms in order to ultimately 

prepare its institutions and people for statehood and 

peaceful coexistence with Israel: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) expresses grave objection to United Nations 

3 Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016); 

4 (2) calls for United Nations Security Council 

5 Resolution 2334 to be repealed or fundamentally al6 tered so that it is no longer one-sided and allows all 

7 final status issues toward a two-state solution to be 

8 resolved through direct bilateral negotiations be9 tween the parties; 

10 (3) rejects efforts by outside bodies, including 

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1 tions from the outside that set back the cause of 

2 peace; 

3 (4) demands that the United States ensure that 

4 no action is taken at the Paris Conference on the 

5 Israeli-Palestinian conflict scheduled for January 15, 

6 2017, that imposes an agreement or parameters on 

7 the parties; 

8 (5) notes that granting membership and state9 hood standing to the Palestinians at the United Na10 tions, its specialized agencies, and other inter11 national institutions outside of the context of a bilat12 eral peace agreement with Israel would cause severe 

13 harm to the peace process, and would likely trigger 

14 the implementation of penalties under sections 7036 

15 and 7041(j) of the Department of State, Foreign 

16 Operations, and Related Agencies Appropriations 

17 Act, 2016 (division K of Public Law 114–113); 

18 (6) rejects any efforts by the United Nations, 

19 United Nations agencies, United Nations member 

20 states, and other international organizations to use 

21 United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 to 

22 further isolate Israel through economic or other boy23 cotts or any other measures, and urges the United 

24 States Government to take action where needed to 

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1 rity Council Resolution 2334 to further isolate 

2 Israel; 

3 (7) urges the current Presidential administra4 tion and all future Presidential administrations to 

5 uphold the practice of vetoing all United Nations Se6 curity Council resolutions that seek to insert the 

7 Council into the peace process, recognize unilateral 

8 Palestinian actions including declaration of a Pales9 tinian state, or dictate terms and a timeline for a so10 lution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; 

11 (8) reaffirms that it is the policy of the United 

12 States to continue to seek a sustainable, just, and 

13 secure two-state solution to resolve the conflict be14 tween the Israelis and the Palestinians; and 

15 (9) urges the incoming Administration to work 

16 with Congress to create conditions that facilitate the 

17 resumption of direct, bilateral negotiations without 

18 preconditions between Israelis and Palestinians with 

19 the goal of achieving a sustainable agreement that is 

20 acceptable to both sides. 

Æ 


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