PALESTINIAN LEADERS are facing pressure from Europe to drop their imminent bid for statehood at the United Nations and seek a lesser form of recognition from the world body.
The question, which is set to dominate the UN General Assembly meeting in New York in a fortnight, has set off intensive diplomatic activity as world powers seek to broker a compromise with the Palestinians.
The US has already indicated that it will veto any request for full statehood, meaning the council is certain to spurn such a resolution.
This has fanned anxiety in Europe about the risk of a violent aggravation of tension in the Middle East if the Palestinians proceed with their plan and it is rebuffed.
EU foreign ministers sought a common position at a two-day meeting in Poland during the weekend, talks that came as the US intensified pressure for an alternative approach from the Palestinians.
The prospect of a request for UN recognition of Palestinian statehood threatens to shatter Europe’s fragile consensus on the Middle East conflict, with member states breaking away in support of the Palestinians or Israel if a resolution seeking statehood is tabled.
European ministers are concerned that the question could deliver a serious setback to the moribund peace process at a time when the “Arab Spring” revolts have stirred protest throughout the Middle East and north Africa.
Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has declared that the question has potential to bring about the “the end of the Oslo Accords”, the interim agreements that created the Palestinian Authority in 1993 and govern relations with his government.
French minister Alain Juppé warned any resolution seeking full statehood would be highly risky. “France hopes that they use the occasion for reopening the path to dialogue rather than risking a futile and dangerous diplomatic confrontation,” he said before the meeting in the Polish seaside town of Sopot
Germany, a staunch ally of Israel, and the Netherlands are also campaigning against a “unilateral” Palestinian resolution seeking full statehood.
Many EU governments are now urging the Palestinians not to seek full statehood immediately and quickly return to talks with Israel.
At issue is whether Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas can be persuaded to seek observer state status for the Palestinian territories instead, a form of implicit recognition that mirrors the position of the Vatican before the UN.
This would stop well short of full statehood but could free the Palestinians to join other international organisations and treaties.
Such an approach finds favour with countries like Ireland, which believes Abbas must be able to emerge from the process with some form of tangible achievement. He would be seriously weakened otherwise.
While many European diplomats believe the observer state formula has the potential to deliver a compromise without prompting a new outburst of turmoil in the region, some powerful EU member states remain very sceptical.
These include Germany, which says observer state status is the maximum attainable at this time.
Berlin ranks among those who say the Palestinians must return to the talks if this path is to be followed and pledge themselves to exclusively peaceful means.
The Palestinians have big reservations about the resumption of talks in light of Israel’s settlements policy. This is but one of four main sticking points with the Israelis, the others being the question of the borders around a Palestinian state, references to Israel as a Jewish state and the role of the UN.
The precise position of Abbas remains unclear. Diplomats believe the final text of the resolution he tables may not be settled until days into the week-long General Assembly meeting. However, sources briefed on the EU ministers’ meeting believe he may be willing in principle to sacrifice an immediate push for full statehood if he can portray observer state status as a stepping stone on the basis that meaningful talks are in prospect. A further consideration for Mr Abbas is the threat of Israel refusing to hand over crucial custom fees to the Palestinian Authority if it tables a resolution seeking full statehood.
This is important given the strain on the authority’s finances and the related risk that crucial US funding might be cut as well.
Diplomats caution, however, that there are divisions within the Palestinian leadership, which declared months ago that it was ready to seek full statehood.
Its declared intention is to seek UN recognition for a state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital
“We do not have a resolution before the UN at the moment and therefore this was not the time to discuss the EU’s response to any such resolution as we don’t yet know if and what it will contain,” EU foreign policy chief Cathy Ashton told reporters at Sopot. “What we were doing in our discussions was working through what the EU position is on getting the talks moving.”
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore said the ministers gave Baroness Ashton a mandate to continue discussions with Israel and the Palestinians.
“The object of those discussions is to see if a formula can be found which all 27 member states can subscribe to,” he said.
A common EU stance is seen to be crucial as that would maximise European leverage with both sides. This is important given a parallel push by the Middle East “quartet” – comprising the US, Russia, the EU and UN – to coax both sides back to talks.
The quartet’s effort is set to intensify this week when its envoy Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, holds talks with Palestinian leaders.
The quartet has been working for months on a draft statement which would provide a framework for the Palestinians and Israelis to return to the talks table, but to no avail thus far.
The Israelis are said to have responded in relatively positive terms to the draft, but the refusal to halt the construction of new settlement homes remains a huge problem for the Palestinians.
Peace talk plans: US tells Abbas it would veto UN request
WASHINGTON – Washington has launched an effort to avoid a clash stemming from plans by Palestinians to seek recognition as a state at the United Nations, the New York Timesreported on Saturday, citing senior US officials and foreign diplomats.
The Obama administration has introduced a plan to restart peace talks with Israel to try to convince Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to give up the bid to seek recognition at the annual meeting of leaders at the UN General Assembly, it said.
The administration has told Abbas it would veto any request made to the UN Security Council to make the Palestinian nation a new member, the paper said.
But Washington lacked support to block a vote by the assembly to raise the status of the Palestinians to a non-voter observer state from that of a non-voting “entity”, which could allow them to join many UN bodies and pursue cases against Israel at the International Criminal Court.
Senior US officials and foreign diplomats, who were not identified, said the administration wanted to avoid having to cast a veto as well as a general assembly vote that would leave only the US and a few other nations opposed to Palestinian statehood.