By Hoda Tawfik Israel has faced a barrage of criticism at the UN Security Council for its plan to expand the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. More than 40 speakers took part in Tuesday's debate, held at the request of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the 22-nation Arab group. Virtually all speakers criticised the Israeli plan, which they said would extend an "umbrella authority" over nearby Israeli settlements in the West Bank, change the population balance in the holy city and endanger the already faltering Middle East peace process. The PLO's UN observer, Nasser Al-Kidwa, said the Israeli action "might lead to the explosion of the whole region at any moment." "We hope that the Council will have sufficient will to finally undertake the necessary measures to guarantee the rescinding of the plan and to prevent Israel, the occupying power, from undertaking any further illegal actions in Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Territories," Al-Kidwa said. Egypt's UN Ambassador Nabil El-Arabi told Al-Ahram Weekly the day-long debate was "a strong demonstration of support for the Palestinian position. Each and every speaker, including the European Union, represented by Britain's Sir John Weston, deplored the Israeli plan." Weston expressed concern that the Israeli plan would "alter the demographic balance in the Jerusalem area" and said that it "tends to pre-empt the final status" of the Holy City. But Israeli Ambassador Dore Gold said the shift in Jerusalem's municipal boundaries was aimed at bolstering its economy and infrastructure and would apply strictly to areas west of the city, within the pre-1967 lines. The "umbrella municipality" would not extend authority over any Israeli settlements but was a mechanism to coordinate services with surrounding communities, Gold said. "This is entirely an internal Israeli matter on the municipal administrative level, rather than on the international level," he added. American Ambassador Bill Richardson, who had failed to postpone the debate, repeated Washington's expressions of "regret" over the Israeli plan and called it "unhelpful". He said all parties should refrain from any unilateral action that could prejudge permanent status talks between Israel and the Palestinians. But he refrained from condemning the plan as "provocative" -- a term earlier used by State Department spokesman James Rubin. Richardson said he welcomed Israel's assurances that the decision was not political in nature. But he added: "Logic suggests and reality demands that no action be taken that would prejudge or prejudice an issue of such sensitivity as the status of Jerusalem." A proposed Arab resolution would condemn the Israeli plan and demand that it be rescinded. But it has not so far been formally submitted and the Council adjourned without a vote until a date to be decided as a result of consultations. Some council members said a presidential statement, rather than a resolution, might eventually be worked out. Such a statement would not carry the weight of international law as a resolution would. As a permanent Council member, the US could veto any resolution. But resorting to a veto is considered a diplomatic setback because it shows that the permanent member is unable to muster majority support. Under the Council's system of monthly rotation, Council President Antonio Monteiro of Portugal is succeeded in July by Russia's Ambassador Sergei Lavrov. A State Department official told Al-Ahram Weekly: "We clearly do not want a resolution. We don't want to be faced with one." He said the US was working on a presidential statement. "Our preference is for a mild statement by the Council, if at all," the official added. The statement under consideration, he said, would include "positive" language about "where we are and what has been achieved in the peace process, acknowledging the fact that the parties have agreed that Jerusalem should be a part of the final status negotiations and that nothing should be done to prejudice this." But "we are not going to support anything that is condemnatory, anything that is unbalanced, or any demands to the parties." El-Arabi, however, said the Arab group is after a resolution and that consultations with Council members started immediately after the debate ended. The consultations are certain to extend into next week because the US urged the Council not to act until President Bill Clinton returns from China on 6 July. The draft resolution circulated by the Arab group outside the Council's hall would "condemn the decision of 21 June 1998 by the government of Israel concerning the approval of a plan to extend the borders of Jerusalem and the extension of the municipal authority over a number of Israeli settlements" and demand that the decision be rescinded. It would "call upon Israel, the occupying power, to refrain from all actions or measures, including settlement activities, which are illegal, alter the facts on the ground, pre-empt the final status negotiations, and have negative implications on the Middle East peace process." The draft also "calls upon Israel, the occupying power, to abide by its legal obligations and responsibilities under the Geneva conventions."
