On Tuesday, the White House said in a statement that the United States will not insist on implementation of the two-state solution of the conflict that would not bring peace to the region. The two-state solution has been considered by the international community as the only way of settlement of the bilateral conflict for decades.
The United Nations, however, is still supportive of the two-state solution of the conflict, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general, told Sputnik earlier on Wednesday.
"I think that Israel should propose the peace initiative that would not include the creation of Palestinian state … I think that the establishment of the Palestinian state cannot be on the agenda because there is no possibility to cooperate neither with Hamas (movement controlling Gaza Strip) nor with Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President]," Katz, a center-right politician of the Israeli leading Likud party, said in a press release.
Relations between Israel and Palestine have been shattered for decades. Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition for their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity, and builds settlements on the occupied areas, despite objections from the United Nations.
On December 23, 2016, the UN Security Council voted 14-0, with the United States abstaining, to pass a resolution calling on Israel to immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the West bank and east Jerusalem.
The US decision to abstain from the vote broke with a long tradition of Washington using its veto power at the Security Council to back its close ally Israel. The Israeli authorities criticized the resolution and refused to abide by its provisions.
