Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said yesterday that the Palestinians would submit their UN bid on Sept. 23, but added that they are willing to listen to other ideas in the meantime.
Envoys from the US, the EU and the “diplomatic Quartet” of the UN, the US, the EU and Russia have been holding 11th-hour talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders in an effort to get them back into direct peace talks that stalled a year ago.
“We will see if any of them is carrying a credible offer that will allow us to look into it seriously,” Malki told foreign journalists in Ramallah. “Otherwise, on the 23rd at 12:30 [Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas] will submit the application.”
Abbas is to make a broadcast address to the Palestinian people today.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and yesterday after holding talks with Abbas in Egypt.
Quartet envoy Tony Blair is in Jerusalem for meetings, while US envoys Dennis Ross and David Hale were to meet Abbas in Ramallah last night.
“We’ll submit our application for full membership,” Malki said. “Until then, we are open to any suggestions or ideas that could come from any side in order to renew negotiations on a firm basis with clear terms of reference, a clear timetable and clear guarantees.”
An EU statement on Wednesday quoted Ashton as saying her mission was to ensure that the Palestinians’ UN bid would ultimately lead to renewed negotiations with Israel.
“I hope that in the coming days what we’ll be able to achieve together will be something that enables the negotiations to start,” she said.
No details of her meeting yesterday with Netanyahu were immediately made public.
The US Department of State has said that Washington would “leave no stone unturned” in efforts to deflect the Palestinians from the UN path and get them and the Israelis back into negotiations.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met Ross on Wednesday and the two discussed the Palestinian issue and other regional matters, Barak’s office said.
So far, 127 countries have recognized a Palestinian state based on the lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War, including Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Some hardline Israeli ministers are calling for Israel to annex chunks of the West Bank if the Palestinians go ahead with their play for UN membership.
Hardline Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned on Wednesday there would be “harsh and grave consequences” if the Palestinians persist with their plan.
He did not elaborate on the possible consequences.
In the past, he has called for Israel to sever all relations with Abbas’s administration should it press on with its UN bid.
Netanyahu said yesterday he would address the UN next week to set out Israel’s objections to the Palestinians’ bid for membership of the world body.
“Israel wants peace, and for the past two-and-a-half years has been attempting to conduct negotiations,” Netanyahu said at a joint press conference with Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas.
“We know that peace is dependent on recognition and security. These needs arise in light of the recent upheavals in the Middle East, which affect us,” Netanyahu said.
“The General Assembly is not a place where Israel usually gets a fair hearing,” he added. “But I think that it’s important that the Israeli prime minister attends, to bring the Israeli message to the world.”
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