Postponing UN bid won't reverse Palestinian momentum
The Palestinians need not worry about postponing the vote on their UN bid until after the Israeli elections, since even if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is re-elected, the push toward Palestinian statehood is inevitable.
Serious pressure is being exerted these days on the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah. This comes in response to the request it submitted to the UN Security Council via Jordan Dec. 17, to recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and to put an end to the Israeli occupation within two years.
From the moment this request was submitted to the secretariat of the Security Council, a persuasion and pressure campaign on the Palestinian Authority (PA) commenced. This campaign, led mainly by the United States, demands that the PA hold back until after the Israeli election (March 17, 2015) when the political-diplomatic set-up in Israel becomes clear.
European Union diplomats who attended an event where US Secretary of State John Kerry gave an address, reported to Foreign Policy that Kerry told them about a warning he received from former President Shimon Peres and former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. According to Kerry, they both told him that a vote by the Security Council on the Palestinian resolution would strengthen the Israeli right in general and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in particular in the upcoming elections.
The report, which inevitably led to criticism in Israel of Livni, not only disclosed US concerns that the Israeli right would form the next government, it also provided an assessment of how Washington is expected to respond if and when the issue is brought up for debate by the Security Council. The United States is convinced that direct negotiations is the best way to resolve the conflict, and Kerry even believes that the negotiations can be restarted from where they were left off. He said as much in a speech friendly to Israel, which he delivered to participants at the Saban Forum in Washington Dec. 7.
