SC not doing enough to tackle Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The Security Council is not doing enough to tackle the Israeli-Palestninian question although it is hugely disruptive and spills over to other tensions in the region, said Swedish ambassador to the United Nations Olof Skoog at the end of his country's Security Council presidency.

"Resolving it should be a priority. Has it been a priority? I am afraid not," Skoog told reporters. "Everyone is waiting for a peace plan that no one really knows the details of."

He deplored the fact that things are not going in a positive way. "There have just been a lot of events that are moving further away from peace than closer to peace."

"The decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was not something we (Sweden) approved of. Actually we were very openly critical of it," said the ambassador.

The recent adoption of the nation-state law by the Israeli parliament does not promote Palestinian participation in political life in Israel, he said.

The controversial law defines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. It states that only Jews have the right of self-determination in Israel. The law also revokes Arabic of its status as an official language alongside Hebrew.

The Swedish ambassador warned that Gaza is on the brink of war. "Almost on daily basis the tensions are there that could escalate very quickly."

"It's a very very dangerous situation and I don't think the Security Council has done enough about it," he said.

The ambassador said he does not see any signs of positive trend in the months to come.