United Nations Security Council

The United States, along with nine other members of the United Nations Security Council, put off a vote on a resolution criticizing Israel over the deaths of 17 Palestinians from Israeli military forces two months ago. The United States, which had already cast votes in favor of resolutions critical of Israel’s excessive use of force in the incident, objected to a clause endorsing a Middle East peace conference, something Israel finds unacceptable. President Bush, who had been considering adopting the resolution, turned against it after he learned that it might appear to be conciliatory to Saddam Hussein in return for the hostage release from Iraq. The Security Council put off the vote on the resolution until December 19 to give the United States and the resolution’s sponsors, Malaysia, Yemen, Colombia and Cuba, time to work out and resolve the issue. close