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Netanyahu and Kerry meet to discuss Palestinian U.N. bid Netanyahu and Kerry meet to discuss Palestinian U.N. bid
(about 7 hours later)
ROME — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry here Monday in hastily-arranged talks after the Palestinians announced they will put a resolution before the U.N. Security Council outlining a specific timetable for a final peace deal with Israel. ROME — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to meet U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry here Monday in hastily arranged talks after Palestinian officials announced that they will put a resolution before the U.N. Security Council outlining a timetable for a final peace deal with Israel.
Palestinian officials announced late Sunday that the Jordanian-backed resolution, which sets a November 2016 deadline for an Israeli retreat from land sought for a Palestinian state, would be submitted by Wednesday of this week, news reports said. The Palestinians announced late Sunday that the Jordanian-backed resolution, which sets a November 2016 deadline for an Israeli retreat from land sought for a Palestinian state, would be submitted by Wednesday, news reports said.
Netanyahu said he will tell Kerry that Israel strongly opposes any attempt to impose a two-year deadline for it to withdraw to lines it held before the 1967 Middle East war. “Israel won’t accept any unilateral, time-defined measures,” Netanyahu told reporters before boarding his plane to Rome, according to the Bloomberg news agency. “We will repulse all efforts to bring terrorism into our home.” Netanyahu said he will tell Kerry that Israel strongly opposes any attempt to impose a two-year deadline for it to withdraw to lines it held before the 1967 Middle East war. “Israel won’t accept any unilateral, time-defined measures,” Netanyahu told reporters before boarding his plane to Rome, according to the Bloomberg News agency. “We will repulse all efforts to bring terrorism into our home.”
Kerry is meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Europe to try to find a way forward. He is due to meet senior Palestinian officials in London Tuesday. Kerry is meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Europe to try to find a way forward. He is due to meet senior Palestinian officials in London on Tuesday.
Both Israel and the United States have said Palestinian statehood should be negotiated, not forced through U.N. resolutions. The U.S. has used its veto power in the Security Council dozens of times to back Israel. It could be less eager to do so now after several Western European allies recently endorsed Palestinian statehood. Both Israel and the United States have said that Palestinian statehood should be negotiated, not forced through U.N. resolutions. The United States has used its veto power in the Security Council dozens of times to back Israel. It could be less eager to do so now after several Western European allies recently endorsed Palestinian statehood.
The European endorsements carry no weight, but they increased pressure on Israel to try to resolve the decades-long conflict with the Palestinians. European sympathy for the Palestinian cause was heightened this past summer after hundreds of Palestinian civilians were killed during the 50-day Gaza war between Israel and Hamas, the militant, hard-line leaders of the Gaza Strip. The European endorsements carry no weight, but they increase pressure on Israel to try to resolve the decades-long conflict with the Palestinians. European sympathy for the Palestinian cause was heightened this summer after hundreds of Palestinian civilians were killed during the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian officials say they’ve been working with European countries, primarily France, on the resolution, news reports said. Jordan has circulated the draft resolution to the 15-member Security Council. An alternative resolution is being drafted by France, Palestinian officials said, according to Bloomberg. Palestinian officials say they have been working with European countries, primarily France, on the resolution, according to news reports. Jordan has circulated the draft resolution to the 15-member Security Council. Palestinian officials said France is drafting an alternative resolution, Bloomberg News reported.
The U.N. campaign, one of several the Palestinians have tried to conduct in the past few years, comes as violence between the two sides has soared recently over access to a contested holy site in Jerusalem. The U.N. campaign, one of several the Palestinians have tried in the past few years, comes as violence between the two sides has soared recently over access to a contested holy site in Jerusalem.
It also comes a few months before Israel holds recently called early general elections, in which polls suggest Netanyahu is not assured of winning a fourth term. It also comes a few months before Israel holds recently called early elections, in which polls suggest Netanyahu is not assured of winning a fourth term.
Kerry, speaking recently in Bogota, Colombia, said he wanted to “help defuse the tensions” and reduce the potential for more conflict, according to remarks posted on the State Department’s Web site.Kerry, speaking recently in Bogota, Colombia, said he wanted to “help defuse the tensions” and reduce the potential for more conflict, according to remarks posted on the State Department’s Web site.
The Palestinians say they have turned to the United Nations out of frustration after more than 20 years of attempted, but failed, peacemaking, which Israel blames on the Palestinians and the Palestinians blame on Israel. The Palestinians say they have turned to the United Nations out of frustration after more than 20 years of failed peacemaking efforts, for which Israel blames the Palestinians and the Palestinians blames Israel.
The Palestinians want to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in the 1967 war, with east Jerusalem as its capital. The Palestinians want to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, territories that Israel captured in the 1967 war, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
“We are in a confrontation now with the U.S. because it doesn’t support our U.N. Security Council move,” Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki told the official Voice of Palestine radio Sunday. “The U.S. wants us to postpone this move until after the Israeli elections,” he said. “We are in a confrontation now with the U.S. because it doesn’t support our U.N. Security Council move,” Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki told the official Voice of Palestine radio on Sunday. “The U.S. wants us to postpone this move until after the Israeli elections,” he said.
Later Monday, Kerry is due to travel to Paris, and then on to London to meet Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and a delegation from the Arab League. Later Monday, Kerry is due to travel to Paris and then on to London to meet Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and a delegation from the Arab League.
In Gaza Sunday, Hamas paraded hundreds of its armed fighters and truck-mounted rockets through the streets of the tiny war-ravaged coastal strip, celebrating its 27th anniversary with its largest show of force since the Gaza war this past summer. In Gaza on Sunday, Hamas paraded hundreds of its armed fighters and truck-mounted rockets through the streets as the group celebrated its 27th anniversary. It was Hamas’s largest show of force since the summer war.