Erekat: UN resolution will set terms for talks with Israel

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says resolution at United Nations General Assembly will seek to establish two-state solution based on 1967 lines, and does not "cancel" peace process.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF, JPOST.COM STAFF
Erekat521 (photo credit: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters)
Erekat521
(photo credit: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters)
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Thursday said the terms of reference for Palestinian negotiations with Israel will be set in a proposed UN General Assembly resolution.
Speaking after a meeting with a number of European Union envoys in Jericho, Erekat said the process of establishing a state begins at the UN, so seeking upgraded statehood status at the United Nations is not a unilateral step.
"No one is talking about canceling the peace process," he said.
The United States and European Union should support the diplomatic move, he continued, adding that he did not know if a resolution would be introduced to the General Assembly before or after the upcoming US presidential elections.
The goals of such a move would be to obtain a draft resolution signed by 150 nations in support of a two-state solution based on 1967 lines.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas declared Tuesday that he was determined to lead the “battle for recognition” of a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly later this month and said he was confident that most Palestinians supported his new drive.
Abbas’s announcement came as PLO officials in Ramallah talked about the need to either cancel or change certain articles of the Oslo Accords.
Abbas said he would deliver a speech before the General Assembly on September 27 in which he would ask for recognition of a Palestinian state as a nonmember of the UN.
Dubbing it the “battle for recognition,” Abbas said: “We are determined to achieve recognition of our state despite all the pressure.”
Khaled Abu Toameh and Herb Keinon contributed to this report.