Israel and the Palestinians were in rare agreement today in welcoming the first US-drafted UN Security Council resolution to refer to a Palestinian state existing alongside the Jewish state.
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An Israeli soldier runs for cover in Ramallah Photo: Reuters
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But each side, locked in more than 17 months of violence, seized on different aspects of the resolution in hailing its passage by a vote of 14-0, with only Syria abstaining, late yesterday.
"Israel welcomes the efforts of the United States to include within today's Security Council resolution a clause calling for the immediate cessation of terrorism and incitement," Israeli Foreign Minister Mr Shimon Peres said in a statement.
Meanwhile a senior aide to Palestinian President Mr Arafat, Mr Nabil Abu Rdainah, called the resolution positive - because the whole world is behind a Palestinian state.
The resolution said the council was affirming a vision of a region where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognised borders.
The resolution also demanded an immediate cessation of all acts of violence, including all forms of terror, provocation, incitement and destruction and called on Israelis and Palestinians to work together towards a ceasefire with an eye to resuming peace negotiations.
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Mr John Negroponte, said Washington's surprise move in drafting the text was aimed at giving momentum to the truce mission being launched this week by US Middle East envoy Mr Anthony Zinni.
The United States put its draft forward after Syria pressed for a text, backed by Arab nations, that referred to a need for the Jewish state, as the occupying power, to abide by international protections for civilians caught in war.