News

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) released the following statement today regarding this weekend’s Paris Peace Conference and S. Res. 6, their resolution objecting to the passage of United Nations (U.N.) Security Council Resolution 2334, as well as all efforts that undermine direct, bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians for a secure and peaceful settlement:

“I am gravely concerned that the upcoming Paris Peace Conference will entail yet another misguided attempt by outside forces to interfere in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Efforts to impose arbitrary parameters to any agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will only hinder prospects of a lasting peace and push the two parties further apart. Real peace will only come through direct, bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians,” said Rubio. “I applaud my colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for passing our bipartisan resolution condemning the U.N.’s latest anti-Israel action. Attendees of this weekend’s Paris conference should realize that Democrats and Republicans in the United States Senate are united in rejecting any efforts to unilaterally impose a solution on Israel.”

“I am pleased the Senate Foreign Relations Committee adopted my and Senator Rubio’s resolution by voice vote without opposition, which expresses our clear disappointment in UN Security Council Resolution 2334 as well as reaffirms that the U.S.-Israel relationship is ironclad. I believe the two-state solution remains the best chance for peace, and that the international community should avoid actions, statements or policies that could derail us from the path to that solution — direct negotiations by the parties,” said Cardin. “My hope is that the Paris Conference’s attendees adhere to such a framework this weekend.”

Rubio and Cardin introduced the resolution on January 4, along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and many others. The legislation passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 12, and now has 71 cosponsors and counting.

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a similar resolution on January 5.

The Rubio-Cardin resolution:

• Expresses grave objection to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016);

• Calls for United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 to be repealed or fundamentally altered so that it is no longer one-sided and allows all final status issues toward a two-state solution to be resolved through direct bilateral negotiations between the parties;

• Rejects efforts by outside bodies, including the United Nations Security Council, to impose solutions from the outside that set back the cause of peace;

• Demands that the United States ensure that no action is taken at the Paris Conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict scheduled for January 15, 2017, that imposes an agreement or parameters on the parties;

• Notes that granting membership and statehood standing to the Palestinians at the United Nations, its specialized agencies, and other international institutions outside of the context of a bilateral peace agreement with Israel would cause severe harm to the peace process, and would likely trigger the implementation of penalties under sections 7036 and 7041(j) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016 (division K of Public Law 114–113);

• Rejects any efforts by the United Nations, United Nations agencies, United Nations member states, and other international organizations to use United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 to further isolate Israel through economic or other boycotts or any other measures, and urges the United States Government to take action where needed to counter any attempts to use United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 to further isolate Israel;

• Urges the current presidential administration and all future presidential administrations to uphold the practice of vetoing all United Nations Security Council resolutions that seek to insert the Council into the peace process, recognize unilateral Palestinian actions including declaration of a Palestinian state, or dictate terms and a timeline for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;

• Reaffirms that it is the policy of the United States to continue to seek a sustainable, just, and secure two-state solution to resolve the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians; and

• Urges the incoming Administration to work with Congress to create conditions that facilitate the resumption of direct, bilateral negotiations without preconditions between Israelis and Palestinians with the goal of achieving a sustainable agreement that is acceptable to both sides