PM: I'm convinced US veto will halt Palestinian state bid

Netanyahu tells weekly cabinet meeting he's not worried about General Assembly: "It is possible to pass any resolution there."

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Netanyahu cabinet meeting 311 (photo credit: Reuters)
Netanyahu cabinet meeting 311
(photo credit: Reuters)
Palestinians efforts to be accepted as a full member of the United Nations will fail because such a move must go through the Security Council, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, adding that he is convinced the United States will veto such a move.
Referring the possibility that the Palestinians may seek a resolution in the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu played down the significance of such a vote but admitted that any resolution could be passed in that body.
"It is possible to decide there that the sun rises in the West and sets in the East, and this would pass there," he said, "But it has neither the same weight nor the same importance."
The prime minister was scheduled to leave later this week for the United States in order to meet with US President Barack Obama and address the General Assembly.
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He said that his trip to the United Nations has two goals: to "present our truth ... our desire for peace," and to ensure that the Palestinian statehood bid does not serve to bypass peace negotiations or succeed in the Security Council.
Discussing his UN speech, the prime minister noted that "the UN is not a place where Israel wins praise, but I think that it is important that I go there in order to represent both the State of Israel and the truth – and the truth is that Israel wants peace and the truth is that the Palestinians are doing everything to torpedo direct peace negotiations."
In addition to Netanyahu's trip, a flurry of intense diplomatic activity to prevent the Palestinians’ unilateral statehood bid at the United Nations this week is expected to take place in the next few days.
Envoys from the Middle East Quartet will meet on Sunday in New York as part of this last-ditch effort.
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