PA submits draft statehood resolution to UNGA

The Palestinian Authority late Monday night submitted a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly which, if approved, would upgrade its status to non-member observer state.

The vote is scheduled to take place on Thursday in the 193-seat body.

The Palestinian resolution reportedly is 316-words-long and calls for a resumption of peace talks with Israel following the UN vote.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the draft lacks any mention of a construction moratorium in Israeli settlements as a precondition for future negotiations, nor of joining UN agencies and treaties.

The move came despite ongoing US efforts to prevent the Palestinian Authority from bringing the resolution to a vote, a senior US official said Monday, according to the Journal.

“Our message to the Palestinians has not changed,” the official said. “We believe that bringing forward a resolution on statehood is unwise, does not help bring them closer to their legitimate aspirations, and will create an environment less positive for negotiations. We are trying to prevent this from happening, don’t want it to happen, and it has not happened yet.”

One Israeli official said that the US was working actively in the UN to try and use procedural measures to block Abbas from even being able to bring the resolution to a vote. He said the US was also working in various key capitals around the world to convince other countries not to support it.

Although the 27-member EU has not yet decided how it would vote on the resolution, the Israeli official said the majority of EU states would like to see a consensus position, and that if a consensus could be reached, they would likely abstain on the matter.

“There is still a concerted effort to reach a consensus,” one official said. “The Europeans love a consensus.”

The EU failed to agree last November when the Palestinians gained statehood admission into UNESCO, with five EU countries voting against the move, 11 supporting and another 11 abstaining.

That Palestinian move led to an automatic halting of US funds to UNESCO, as mandated by US law.

The senior American official said whether the US would have to cut off funding to the UN General Assembly if it adopted the Palestinian resolution depended on “what is in the resolution and what form it takes.”

Congress, he added, “has already said there will be repercussions in our system.”

The official said that the US was “as supportive of a two-state solution as it has ever been, and intends on working on it.”

But, he added, “this step runs counter and makes things harder.”

The Financial Times reported Monday that the United Kingdom is preparing to support the PA's UN bid. Citing unnamed officials, the report stated that London was seeking assurances from the PA that: it would not seek to join the International Criminal Court or other UN agencies; it would not take its statehood bid to the UN Security Council; and that it would return to negotiations with Israel without preconditions.

According to the report, London would support the bid in an attempt to bolster PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who is viewed as a moderate alternative to Hamas and other rival Palestinian organizations. JPost