REPORT: OBAMA MULLS USE OF UN TO DIVIDE JERUSALEM: In waning days of his presidency, USA President Obama is reportedly looking to the UN Security Council to force Israel to divide Jerusalem. With about 10 months left in office, Obama is considering unprecedented moves to implement a two-state solution, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Senior USA officials revealed that the President is looking to initiate a final negotiated settlement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority using UN Security Council resolutions, a step that would obligate not only Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but effectively determine the direction of USA policy for the president’s successor as well. According to the plan described by senior USA officials, Obama is considering reviving the dormant Middle East Quartet, a diplomatic body including the US, UN, EU, and Russia, to apply pressure to Israel and the Palestinian Authority to resume active negotiations.

The President is also considering use of a UN Security Council resolution to forcibly extract concessions from Israel and the PA. The USA has until now vetoed any such resolutions, though Obama has in the past threatened to allow them to pass. A Security Council resolution would be binding upon all parties, unlike General Assembly measures which are non-obligatory. Such a resolution would remain in force even after the president leaves office next January, effectively shaping the future of USA policy in the region for Obama’s successors. The resolution would require Israel cease construction over the Green Line and would force Israel to recognize eastern Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. At the same time, the Palestinian Authority would be obliged to officially recognize Israel as a Jewish state and would be pressured to give up the long-standing demand for a right of return. (Arutz-7)