Samantha Power: US Won’t Commit to Veto of Palestinian State Resolution

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Tuesday refused to categorically say if the U.S. would veto a potential Security Council resolution calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state, prompting concern from congressional lawmakers over the Obama administration's continuing commitment to Israel.

Asked directly during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing whether the U.S. would exercise its veto power to turn back such a resolution, Samantha Power was noncommital.

“I really am going to resist making blanket declarations on hypothetical resolutions. Our position, again, I think has been very clear for some time,” Power said, when pressed on the issue. “I have said, again, we would oppose anything that was designed to punish Israel or undermine Israel's security. But I think, again, it's perilous. There's no resolution in front of us.”

The lack of a firm answer prompted concern from several members of the committee from both sides of the aisle amid a rocky relationship between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two leaders have publicly disagreed regarding how to approach a peace process and over ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran, which Netanyahu vehemently opposes.

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Grant Rumley, research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, says Power's comments are “a departure point [from past U.S. policy], but it’s not a recent departure point.” He says the U.S. has indicated it would allow the French to bring forward a similar resolution to the one that failed last year.

“Her comments today are further reinforcing this notion that whenever that resolution gets to the Security Council – if nothing changes between then – the U.S. is probably not going to veto,” Rumley says.

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