The Heat: Middle East peace prospects

The Heat

FILE — In this Nov. 9, 2015 file photo, President Barack Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Doubling down on its public break with the Obama administration, a furious Israeli government said, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016, that it has “ironclad” information from Arab sources that Washington actively helped craft last week’s U.N. resolution declaring Israeli settlements illegal. The allegations further poison the increasingly toxic atmosphere between Israel and the outgoing Obama administration in the wake of Friday’s vote, and raise questions about whether the White House might take further action. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Disagreements between the United Nations and Israel over Israel’s settlement activity are nothing new. In just one example, back in 2013, a report by the UN Human Rights Council called Israeli settlements in the occupied territories a violation of Palestinians’ human rights.

This latest skirmish between Israel and the world body comes with an unusual twist. Amid cries that it was abandoning its staunch ally, the United States declined to use its veto – choosing instead to abstain from a resolution declaring that Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem had quote “no legal validity” and constituted a “flagrant violation under international law.”

Meanwhile, in the United States, President-elect Donald Trump condemned the Obama administration’s actions – tweeting that things will be different once he takes office on Jan. 20. Prime Minister Netanyahu appears to be looking forward to that, as well. What can be expected in terms of bilateral relations and the prospects for peace?

For more on the controversy and how it will impact the peace process in the Middle East, CGTN’s Stephanie Freid reports from Tel Aviv.

Tonight’s panel takes on the future of the Middle East peace process and where the region is now:

  • Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar with The Arab Gulf States Institute
  • Amotz Asa-El, senior commentator with The Jerusalem Post
  • Perry Cammack, a fellow with the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace