The United States and European powers stepped up a diplomatic scramble on Sunday to avoid a United Nations (UN) showdown on the Palestinian plan to seek full UN membership which the US administration has vowed to veto.
US, European Union (EU), Russian and UN officials were all involved in the bid to seek a face-saving way out of the looming confrontation at this week’s UN General Assembly in New York.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to meet EU foreign affairs representative Catherine Ashton in New York where the Middle East diplomatic Quartet’s envoy, Tony Blair, was to meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
Blair expressed confidence that a deal could be reached. “I think there is a way of avoiding a confrontation,” the former British prime minister told US broadcaster ABC.
Diplomats said that with so few details available of the demand to be made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, frantic talks were likely to continue right up to the last minute.
Frustrated by the lack of progress with Israel and infuriated by its plans for new settlements in the occupied territories, Abbas has said he would ask the UN Security Council to approve full UN membership for a Palestinian state.
Israel strongly opposed the move and the US, a permanent member of the Security Council, said it would veto any request to the 15-nation body. The US insisted only direct talks could set up an accord to create a Palestinian state.
No decision taken
If a veto is wielded, the Palestinians could then go straight to the UN General Assembly to seek an elevated observer status. It is likely to get a majority of the 193 members and no veto is possible.
The US is trying to convince other members of the Security Council to vote against or abstain in any Palestinian resolution. If it does not secure nine votes, any resolution would fail and the US veto would not be necessary — reducing any US embarrassment.
Twelve months ago, US President Barack Obama said he wanted to see a Palestinian state at the UN within a year.
Council members Britain, France and Germany will have decisive votes. All of their UN envoys say that no decision on how to vote has been taken because they have not seen a Palestinian resolution.
All say that the Palestinians’ willingness to return to direct talks will play a central role in their decision.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, ahead of his trip to the UN General Assembly, that any Palestinian bid through the Security Council would fail.
“In the end, after the smoke clears and after everything that happens at the UN, the Palestinians will come to their senses, I hope, drop these moves to bypass negotiations and return to the table in order to bring peace to us and our neighbours.”
Direct Israeli-Palestinian talks were frozen one year ago after Israel refused to renew a moratorium on Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Eyes on the Security Council
Netanyahu said that any General Assembly resolution would be less important. “They could decide that the sun rises in the west and sinks in the east but it doesn’t have the same weight and the same importance as the Security Council”.
General Assembly recognition of a Palestinian state would allow increased international rights. Some officials say the Palestinians could become signatories to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and launch a complaint against Israeli military action.
Blair, the envoy for the Quartet — the US, Russia, EU and UN — is seeking a formula that would allow for greater recognition of a Palestinian state while paving the way for direct talks which could satisfy the US.
“What we will be looking for over the next few days is a way of putting together something that allows their claims and legitimate aspirations for statehood to be recognized whilst actually renewing the only thing that’s going to produce a state which is a negotiation directly between the two sides,” Blair told ABC.
He added that a Quartet statement he is trying to produce this week could set out a “time frame” for negotiations.
“I think it is possible to bridge the gaps and produce such a document,” so that “whatever happens with the United Nations happens in a less confrontational atmosphere and could even happen in a way that helps the process of negotiations and statehood.” — AFP