In remarks made to the UN Security Council, Ban urges Israel to foster better relations with Palestinian counterpart, abide by commitments.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday gave a speech to the UN Security Council underlining the obstacles facing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the region as a whole.
In his opening remarks, the UN chief said that the peace process has been marred with missed opportunities and failures that have cost both sides dearly in terms of human lives. He also urged the new Israeli government to restate its commitment to the two-state solution and freeze settlement activity in order to foster a more amicable environment should negotiations resume.
"In the coming weeks, a new Israeli government will be formed. I strongly urge the incoming government to reaffirm Israel\’s commitment to the two-state solution and to take credible steps to foster an environment conducive to a return to meaningful negotiations, including a freeze of settlement activity."
In early March, during a hotly contested election campaign, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Israeli media that a Palestinian state would not be created during his premiership and warned against Arab voters heading to the polls in droves.
Ban also touched upon the issue of tax transfers the Israeli government collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, praising the recent agreement the two sides reached last week.
"I welcome the agreement reached last week between the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel, under which Israel has now transferred more than $470 million in revenues collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority," said Ban.
He then added, "I wish to underline, however, that the recurrent withholding of such revenues is counterproductive, and seriously undermines the ability of the Government of Palestine to carry out its responsibilities. I urge the parties to find a sustainable solution on tax collection in line with the Paris Protocol of the Oslo Accords."