I-51 Israel dismisses new peace plan... Doesn't want outside interference with its agenda...

Israel dismisses new peace plan Israel has dismissed a Middle East peace plan put forward by Spain, France and Italy..... The plan calls for a ceasefire and increased international intervention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

An Israeli official said parts of the plan were being discussed, but it was not being taken seriously as it was not co-ordinated with the EU or Israel.... The Spanish prime minister proposed the plan, saying the situation required urgent action by the outside world..... "We cannot remain impassive in the face of the horror that continues to unfold before our eyes," Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said. ..... "Violence has reached a level of deterioration that requires determined, urgent action by the international community."

Israel has long opposed greater international intervention and does not favour an international peace conference...... "Israel believes that it is right to conduct direct negotiations with all sides of the conflict," Amira Oron, the foreign ministry spokeswoman, said.

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U.N. calls on Israel to end operation UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. General Assembly called for an end to Israeli military operations in the
Gaza Strip on Friday, overwhelmingly passing a resolution in an emergency special session the Israeli ambassador blasted as a "farce" and a "circus." .... The Arab League had asked for the session after the United States vetoed a similar, but watered-down U.N. Security Council draft resolution against Israel's actions last weekend — its second veto on the matter this year.

There are no vetoes in the 192-member General Assembly and the chamber's resolutions are nonbinding, considered more a reflection of international opinion...... The resolution passed Friday by a vote of 156 to 7, with six abstentions. The U.S., Israel and Australia voted against the document, while all the
European Union members supported it after last-minute changes were made to soften the tone.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said it was ironic the assembly held a special session on the Palestinian question a day after one of its committees passed a resolution stressing the need to avoid politically motivated and biased human rights resolutions..... "We believe that the United Nations is ill-served when its members seek to transform the organization into a forum that is little more than a self-serving and polemical attack against Israel or the United States," he said in the session...... The resolution "deeply deplores" the Israeli offensive, launched after the June capture of an Israel soldier, and calls on Israel to immediately halt its operation and pull its troops out of the Gaza Strip.