Draft UNGA Resolution Establishing a New Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process

By Jerome M. Segal
December 18, 2017

The General Assembly:

1. Deeply committed to the attainment of a just peace that resolves the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;

2. Believing that the only basis for such peace is the two-state solution;

3. Noting that the General Assembly has recognized the State of Palestine as an Observer State;

4. Further noting that in UNGA Resolution 181 of 1947, the Assembly called for the partition of Palestine into two states, one Arab and one Jewish, with an international regime for Jerusalem;

5. Observing that when the State of Palestine applied for membership in the United Nations in 2012, the President of Palestine, in a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations, made clear that the state seeking admission (Palestine) was the state whose existence was proclaimed be the Palestinian Declaration of Independence of 1988;

6. Aware that immediately following that Declaration, made at the 19th session of the Palestinian National Council, convening in Algiers, member states of the United Nations commenced to provide their recognition of the State of Palestine;

7. Aware that as of today, over 150 nations, all members of the United Nations have recognized the State of Palestine;

8. Seeing great significance in the fact that the international legitimacy of the Partition Resolution was acknowledged in both the Palestinian Declaration of Independence and the Israeli Declaration of Independence;

9. Cognizant of the fact that the 1993 Oslo Accords agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, was signed on the White House lawn by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Rabin, under the auspices of President of the United States, and further endorsed by the Security Council of the United Nations;

10. And aware that the Oslo Accords specified that Jerusalem was one of the issues to be negotiated between Israel and the PLO in the permanent status negotiations;

11. Further mindful of the serious progress that was made in negotiations over Jerusalem in the negotiations between the PLO and the government of Israel both in 2001 at Taba, and subsequently under the Annapolis umbrella in the period 20xx -20xx;

12. Deeply critical of the recent action by the United State in announcing its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel;

13. And now highly doubtful that continued leadership of the peace process by the United States will be successful in bringing the conflict to a close,

Hereby:

1. Calls on the Secretary General to establish an International Commission on Ending the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict;

2. Instructs that such Commission will be charged with reporting back to the Assembly within six months of its establishment a detailed proposed treaty agreement which would, if agreed to by the parties, end the conflict;

3. Requires that plan will be consistent with the terms of the Arab Peace Initiative, with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian dimension;

4. Aware that it is impossible to end the conflict through an imposed solution, and that lasting peace will require the support of majorities of both societies;

5. Requires that in developing its recommended plan, the commission would seek to identify, from among alternatives, that proposal that in its judgment, will receive the highest level of support by both the Palestinian people and the citizens of the State of Israel;

6. Further determines that in seeking to identify the nature of such an agreement the commission will not focus primarily on the positions of either the PLO or the Government of Israel, but rather on the views, values and beliefs of the two peoples;

7. And further determines the following structure:

a) In carrying out its work, the Commission shall have two units, a Professional Team and an Authorizing Council.

b) The Professional Team shall actually carry out the drafting functions with respect to the proposed treaty after carrying out all necessary research into the views of the two peoples, and into any significant new ideas on how to resolve the outstanding issues of the conflict. The team will be appointed by the Secretary General, subject to confirmation, as whole, by the General Assembl. It will make its recommendations to the Authorizing Council, and respond to requests from the Council;

c) The Council will be responsible for approving the report of the Commission to the General Assembly. The Council will be composed of 50 individuals, and will make its decisions by majority vote. The members of the Council will be appointed by the Secretary General, and shall consist of 25 Americans and 25 Israelis. All members of the Council will have to meet the following criteria:

• Distinguished and honorable individuals within their own societies.
• Highly knowledgeable about the Israeli Palestinian conflict
• Believing in the necessity of a just peace;
• Believing in the necessity of a two state solution with the capitals of both states in Jerusalem.
• Affirming in a signed commitment to carry out the terms of the commission, most importantly that the draft agreement will be consistent with the Arab Peace Initiative.
• Acceptance that the objective is to identify a set of which will receive the highest level of support from majorities of the two peoples.

8. Upon receipt of the Commission Report, the Secretary General shall transmit the report to the member and observer states of the General Assembly. He shall then convene a Special Session of the UN General Assembly to take such further action as it may see fit.