United Nations Radio

Political efforts towards a negotiated two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have reached a deep and worrying impasse.

Haile Menkerios

That's the assessment made by United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Haile Menkerios during his briefing, Tuesday, to the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East.

He recalled that United States President Barack Obama has made efforts to re-launch negotiations to resolve the conflict, including by sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the region and by meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr. Menkerios said in the absence of mutual commitments to fully implement the Roadmap - the plan agreed by the United Nations, United States, the European Union and Russia - an impasse has developed which must be overcome.

He said a key challenge had arisen from the Israeli government's proposal to restrain rather than freeze the building of Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.

"Such restraint would not conform to Roadmap requirements and would reportedly not apply at all in occupied East Jerusalem. The importance of this issue was underscored on 17 November, when a government planning commission approved the addition of 900 housing units to significantly expand the settlement of Gilo on the southern outskirts of occupied East Jerusalem."

Haile Menkerios warned that without credible political horizon, forces of violence, tension and extremism on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides would fill the vacuum.

Diane Bailey, United Nations Radio
(duration: 1'36")