Erekat: No plans to request UN recognition of state

Palestinian negotiator denies reports PA will request UNSC recognition of Palestinian state, says will instead seek criticism of settlements.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Erekat 311 (photo credit: AP)
Erekat 311
(photo credit: AP)
The Palestinians are planning to ask the UN Security Council to issue a resolution condemning settlements as illegal, Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat announced on Wednesday.
Erekat denied earlier reports that claimed that the Palestinians were planning to ask the UN Security Council to recognize a Palestinian state early next year.
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He said that the Palestinians have no intention to make such a request [for recognition of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders] in the near future.
The PA also rejected on Wednesday any talk about an interim solution with Israel. The announcement came in response to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s remarks in an interview with Channel 10 on Tuesday.
Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for PA President Mahmoud Abbas, said that the Palestinians were opposed to an interim agreement because it would exclude the issues of Jerusalem and the refugees.
“Renewed talk about a Palestinian state with temporary borders is completely unacceptable and wouldn’t lead to real peace,” Abu Rudaineh said. “The time has come for decisions on final-status issues and the establishment of a Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 borders, including east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”
Erekat also rejected Netanyahu’s talk about an interim solution, saying such remarks “exposed the true face of his government.”