United Nations Security Council Resolution 1515

By late 2002 and early 2003, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was marked by violence associated with the Second Intifada, while international diplomatic efforts sought to restore a structured peace process.[4][5] The Security Council had already expressed a two-state vision in Resolution 1397 (2002).

The Quartet — comprising the United States, the European Union, the Russian Federation, and the United Nations — adopted the Roadmap at a Madrid meeting on 10 April 2002.[4] It was formally presented to the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority on 30 April 2003 and transmitted to the Security Council under cover of a letter from the Secretary-General dated 7 May 2003 as document S/2003/529.[4][6] The plan described a performance-based, goal-driven process involving reciprocal political, security, economic, humanitarian, and institution-building steps under Quartet auspices, with the goal of a final and comprehensive settlement.[7]

Israel received the Roadmap with reservations, submitting 14 reservations on 14 April 2003. After the Bush Administration stated that Israel's concerns were real and would be addressed during implementation, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his cabinet accepted the Roadmap's defined steps with those reservations on 25 May 2003.[5] At the Aqaba summit on 4 June 2003, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas pledged to pursue Palestinian goals through peaceful means, while Sharon emphasized territorial contiguity for a viable Palestinian state and promised to remove unauthorized outposts.[5] The framework drew on President George W. Bush's 24 June 2002 speech and was formally issued by the U.S. Department of State on 30 April 2003.[8][7]

The Security Council adopted Resolution 1515 at its 4862nd meeting on 19 November 2003.[1] The vote was unanimous.[2]

In its preambular clauses, the resolution recalls Security Council Resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), and 1397 (2002), as well as the Madrid principles. It expresses grave concern over continuing violence in the Middle East and reiterates the demand for an immediate cessation of all acts of violence, terrorism, provocation, incitement, and destruction.[1] It also reaffirms the Council's vision of Israel and Palestine living side by side within secure and recognized borders, emphasizes the need for a comprehensive, just, and lasting Middle East peace that includes the Israeli-Syrian and Israeli-Lebanese tracks, and welcomes the diplomatic efforts of the Quartet.[1]

The first operative paragraph endorses the "Quartet Performance-based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict," identified as document S/2003/529.[9] The second calls on the parties to fulfill their Roadmap obligations in cooperation with the Quartet and to achieve two states living side by side in peace and security.[9] The third decides that the Security Council will remain seized of the matter, formally retaining the issue for continued consideration.[9]

The Roadmap endorsed by Resolution 1515 was a three-phase, performance-based plan with reciprocal obligations, timelines, target dates, and benchmarks.[7] Progress depended on the parties' performance and compliance; noncompliance would impede movement through the phases.[7]

Phase I, associated with the period up to May 2003, required an immediate and unconditional cessation of violence, an end to terrorism and incitement, Palestinian political and security reforms, and measures to normalize Palestinian civilian life.[7] Palestinian leaders were called upon to reaffirm Israel's right to exist in peace and security and to call for an immediate end to violence against Israelis.[8] Israeli obligations included progressive withdrawal from Palestinian areas occupied since 28 September 2000 as security performance improved, a freeze on settlement activity including natural growth, and the dismantling of outposts erected since March 2001.[7] At the outset of implementation, official Palestinian and Israeli institutions were each required to end incitement against the other side.[7][10]

Phase II, envisioned for June through December 2003, contemplated the possible creation of an independent Palestinian state with provisional borders and attributes of sovereignty, alongside continued Palestinian action against terrorism and continued democratic institution-building.[7] The Quartet was also to convene an international conference during this phase.[8]

Phase III, scheduled for 2004–2005, envisioned negotiations toward a permanent-status agreement addressing borders, Jerusalem, refugees, and settlements, followed by a second international conference.[8][7] The Roadmap's stated destination was a comprehensive settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by 2005.[7]

The Roadmap's implementation stagnated in its first phase and was never fully carried out.[11] A Congressional Research Service report subsequently stated that the Roadmap "has not been implemented."[5]

At the November 2007 Annapolis Conference, the parties agreed to implement their respective Roadmap obligations continuously until reaching a peace treaty.[5] Lieutenant General William Fraser III was appointed in January 2008 to monitor Israeli and Palestinian compliance, although the resulting trilateral monitoring mechanism had barely functioned by October 2008.[5]

In proceedings concerning Israel's security barrier, the International Court of Justice observed that neither the Roadmap nor Resolution 1515 contained a specific provision concerning construction of the wall and that the Security Council had not discussed wall construction in that context.[12] Resolution 1515 was later cited in Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016), which reiterated Roadmap provisions calling for Israel to freeze settlement activity, including natural growth, and dismantle outposts erected since March 2001.[13] Resolution 1515 consequently remained a reference point in later international diplomacy concerning the peace process.

Analyses of Resolution 1515 emphasize both its diplomatic significance and its limited substantive reach. A Washington Institute analysis characterizes its unanimous adoption as the culmination of the international mainstreaming of the two-state solution.[3] A Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs analysis instead stresses that the language of "secure and recognized borders" did not itself determine final borders, while the Roadmap reserved borders, Jerusalem, refugees, and settlements for permanent-status negotiations.[14][7] These readings treat Resolution 1515 as an endorsement of a negotiating framework rather than a settlement of the conflict's final-status questions.