The report, published Saturday by the New York Times, said that Obama administration has launched an effort to avoid a clash stemming from the Palestinians bid to seek recognition of a state on 1967 borders at the United Nations.
Sa’eb Erekat, the Palestinian negotiator, told the Voice of Palestine Radio that the Palestinian Authority (PA) had not received a new US proposal to resume negotiations with Israel.
Erekat dismissed the concern expressed by US officials in a conversation with the newspaper about an outbreak of mass rioting that could outbreak in Palestinian territories in the wake of the request.
“We want everyone, Palestinians in the West Bank and those outside in surrounding areas, to go out into the streets everywhere, and wave the Palestinian flag to support the statehood bid,” Erekat said.
The New York Times report said that the Obama administration has told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas it would veto any request made to the UN Security Council to make a Palestinian nation a new member.
The report said that the US administration lacked support to block a vote by the UN General Assembly to raise the status of the Palestinians to a nonvoter observer state from that of a nonvoting “entity,” which could allow them to join many UN bodies, and pursue cases against Israel at the International Criminal Court.
The newspaper quoted senior US officials and foreign diplomats, whom the Times did not identify, as saying that the Obama administration wanted to avoid having to cast a veto as well as a General Assembly vote that would leave only the United States and a few other nations opposed to Palestinian nationhood.
For his part, Palestinian negotiator Nabil Sha’ath denied the report and ruled out the possibility of reaching an agreement with the US administration to resume the peace talks with Israel.
Sha’ath added that the Palestinian leadership will approach “all UN bodies to get full membership after it became clear that the US will veto the move and then we will approach the UN Security Council several times.”
On Friday, the PA rejected a French offer to have a Vatican-style state instead of seeking recognition of an independent Palestinian state at the United Nations.
Riad Al-Maliki, the Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs, told the Voice of Palestine Radio that the French President Nicholas Sarkozy offered Abbas to have an observer status at the UN like the Vatican style instead of the Palestinian plan.
The offer also allows the PA to approach the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to sue Israel. It also includes the recognition of 1967 borders with land swap but without considering the settlements blocs in Palestinian territories.
Al-Malki said that Sarkozy’s offer is to prevent split among members of the European Union on the Palestinian move. Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland, have indicated they will vote against the proposal. A number of other countries, such as Spain, Ireland, Belgium and Luxembourg, are expected to vote for the resolution.
After peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians reached a deadlock last year, the Palestinians decided to go to the UN to seek recognition of their state on the lands occupied by Israel in 1967.
Israel and the United States oppose the Palestinian bid to obtain an international recognition from the UN and say that the recognition should be made through a negotiated agreement.
