The Palestinian Authority will present its draft resolution for independence to the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
A senior advisor to Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday night that the resolution — which includes statehood and an Israeli withdrawal to 1967 borders with the West Bank and Gaza — would be submitted despite pressure and the threat of a veto by the US.
An unnamed Palestinian official said a discussion in London between chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and US Secretary of State John Kerry was “difficult”. Kerry, who met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, asked the Palestinian delegation not to proceed and said the US would veto the resolution if it called for a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal.
Erekat reportedly told Kerry that Israel’s attitude had left the Palestinians no choice. He said that, if the US used its veto, the Palestinians would seek to join numerous UN and international organizations, including the International Criminal Court.
Asked what kind of resolution Washington might be support, Kerry said the Obama Administration has “made no determinations… about language, approaches, specific resolutions, any of that.” He asserted:
What we’re trying to do is have a constructive conversation with everybody to find the best way to go forward.
We want to find the most constructive way of doing something that… will not have unintended consequences, but also can stem the violence.