The UN, on its 80th anniversary in 2025, can mark the occasion by ensuring a lasting solution to the conflict in the Middle East, by welcoming the State of Palestine as the 194th member state of the UN. The next United Nations Conference on Palestine, scheduled for June 2025, could represent a turning point – a decisive and irreversible path to peace in the Middle East. The Trump administration would greatly serve America’s and the world’s interests by championing the two-state solution and a comprehensive Middle East peace deal at the New York rally in June.
Amid Israel’s shocking brutality in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, a small window of hope has nevertheless emerged. Almost the entire world has united around the two-state solution, seen as the key to regional peace. As a result, a comprehensive agreement is now within reach.
The United Nations General Assembly recently overwhelmingly adopted a potentially transformative resolution (PDF). The UNGA demands an end to Israel’s illegal 1967 occupation and reaffirms its unwavering support for the two-state solution. Most importantly, the resolution presented a roadmap for Palestinian statehood at the High-Level International Conference (PDF), which will be held in June 2025 at the United Nations.
Think about how long Palestinians and the world have been waiting for this moment. In 1947, the UN first assumed responsibility for dealing with the Palestinian question. With Resolution 181 (PDF), the United Nations General Assembly proposed the partition of Mandatory Palestine into two independent states – one Jewish and one Arab. The proposed sharing, unfortunately, was neither equitable nor accepted by the parties. It allocated 44 percent of the land to the Palestinians even though they made up 67 percent of the population. Yet before the plan could be revised and settled peacefully, Zionist terrorist groups began ethnically cleansing more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes, the so-called Nakba, or catastrophe, of the Palestinian people.
After Israel declared unilateral independence and defeated its Arab neighbors in war, a top UN mediator, Count Folke Bernadotte, attempted to resurrect the two-state solution. Yet Bernadotte was assassinated by Léhi, a Zionist paramilitary organization. Israel signed the 1949 Lausanne Protocol, resurrecting the two-state solution under UN auspices, but then openly ignored it. What followed was Israel’s 75-year quest to deprive Palestinians of their rights to a homeland.
For decades, the US government, under the leadership of the Israel lobby, has presided over a bogus negotiating process. These efforts ostensibly involved direct bilateral talks between an occupying power and an occupied people, inherently unequal parties, in which Israel’s goal was always to reject a truly sovereign Palestinian state. At best, Israel has proposed “bantustans,” that is, small, powerless enclaves of Palestinians living under Israeli control. The US-dominated process has continued since the mid-1970s, including the Camp David Accords of 1978, the Madrid Conference of 1991, the Oslo Accords of 1993 to 1995, the Camp David Summit David of 2000, the Quartet for Peace Roadmap of 2003 and the Annapolis Conference of 2007. In this gallery process On ice, the Israelis have continually blocked the creation of a Palestinian state while American “mediators” have continually blamed the Palestinians for their intransigence.
The Trump administration may choose to change the situation at the next UN conference – in America’s interests, in Israel’s long-term interests and security, and in the interests of peace in the Middle East and the world. The United States is, in fact, the only remaining veto against a Palestinian state. Israel has no veto on Palestinian statehood or peace. Only the United States has this right of veto.
Yes, Prime Minister Netanyahu has other ideas than peace. He and his coalition continue to have a single objective: to deny the creation of a State of Palestine by expanding Israel’s territorial conquests, now including not only occupied Palestine but also parts of Lebanon and a growing part of Syria. .
A new American foreign policy is needed in the Middle East – one that brings peace rather than endless war. As called for by the International Court of Justice and as demonstrated by the General Assembly, the G20 (PDF), BRICS (PDF) and the League of Arab States (PDF), the overwhelming majority of the world supports to the two-state solution.
The United Nations Conference on Palestine therefore represents a key and vital opportunity, which could unlock a comprehensive peace for the Middle East, comprising seven interconnected measures:
- An immediate ceasefire imposed by the UN on all fronts of the conflict, including Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Iran, and the immediate release of hostages and prisoners of war in all entities.
- The admission of a sovereign state of Palestine as the 194th member state of the UN on June 4, 1967, bordering its capital in East Jerusalem; the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from the territories occupied in 1967, with the simultaneous introduction of UN-mandated international forces and security guarantees to protect all populations.
- The protection of the territorial integrity and stability of Lebanon and Syria, the complete demilitarization of all non-state forces and the withdrawal of all foreign armies from the respective countries.
- The adoption of an updated Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran and the end of all economic and other sanctions against Iran.
- The end, including the definancing and disarmament of belligerent non-state entities, of all claims or states of belligerence, and respect and recognition of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of each State of the region (without excluding the possibility of subsequent sanctions). territorial adjustments, security arrangements and cooperative forms of governance agreed by sovereign parties).
- The establishment of regional peace and the normalization of diplomatic relations of all Arab and Islamic states with Israel.
- The creation of a Sustainable Development Fund for the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East to support the reconstruction, economic recovery and sustainable development of the region.
After too many decades of violence and war, the chance for peace is here and now. The United Nations’ efforts toward comprehensive peace represent our best hope and opportunity in decades.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Tel Aviv Tribune.
