BICOM

During a phone conversation between the two leaders yesterday, US President Barack Obama expressed his opposition to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ bid to upgrade the status of the Palestinian United Nations delegation to that of a ‘non-member state.’

Last week, the PA circulated a draft resolution to UN member states, which it intends to bring to a vote of the UN General Assembly later this month. The resolution calls to upgrade the status of the Palestinian UN delegation from a non-member ‘observer entity’ to a non-member ‘observer state.’ The PA hopes that the implications of UN statehood will pave the way for widespread recognition of a Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders and allow it access to bodies such as the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where they could file complaints against Israel.  However, the Palestinian initiative has been heavily criticized by the UK, Israel and the United States, who have warned that issues of Palestinian statehood and borders can only be resolved within the context of bilateral negotiations with Israel.

The White House said that in a phone conversation yesterday, President Obama reiterated his “opposition to unilateral efforts at the United Nations,” while reaffirming “his commitment to Middle East peace and his strong support for direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians with the objective of two states living side by side in peace and security.”

Meanwhile, Nabil Abu Rdaineh, an aide to Abbas said, “President Abbas cited the reasons and motives for the Palestinian decision to seek non-member statehood as continued Israeli settlement activity and the continued attacks on Palestinians and their property.” Addressing the issue at a rally in Ramallah later in the day, Abbas said, “We are under pressure from several parties to make us backtrack on this right…But we will not backtrack. We are going in November 2012.”