Ryan Jones
israel today Magazine
9/18/2011
The Palestinian Authority knows all the right buttons to push with Washington. The Palestinian leadership is fully aware of the value US President Barack Obama (like his predecessors) puts on overseeing an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, and has regularly wielding that weakness like a diplomatic bludgeon against the White House.
On Saturday, the Palestinians were at it again, warning the Obama Administration that vetoing their UN Security Council bid for statehood would “destroy” the two-state solution to the conflict.
“Anyone who supports the two-state solution should back the Palestinian effort [at the UN],” insisted chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Senior PLO official Zakariya al-Agha followed up by reminding Obama that in September of 2010 he promised that a Palestinian state would be established in one year.
The warnings cames just hours after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas confirmed in a speech in Ramallah that on Friday, September 23 he will address the UN General Assembly, after which he will submit to the Security Council an official application for UN membership for “Palestine.”
The Obama White House has repeatedly stated that it will veto the motion, with Obama himself going so far as to call the Palestinian stunt a “distraction.”…
The article continues at israel today Magazine.
Related: Obama, Netanyahu to meet at U.N. in New York
…”The U.N. 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,” Netanyahu said Sunday.
Netanyahu reiterated that the only way for Israel and the Palestinians to achieve a peace agreement is through direct negotiations. He said that Abbas a year ago had declared a year ago that the Palestinians’ goal was to be accepted as a U.N. member and its attempt “will fail.”…
Also, Obama’s UN speech comes amid doubts about Jewish support
President Obama will deliver a critical address Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly expected to be dominated by questions about Palestinian statehood.
Obama’s administration will veto any request by the Palestinians for the UN Security Council to grant them a sovereign state, but the White House hopes to avoid that step. Such a vote could set back Obama’s efforts to reset the U.S. relationship with the Arab world.
The president’s speech also comes at a critical time for Obama in terms of domestic politics. Obama is facing new doubts about whether he can win a second term, and the loss of a seemingly safe House seat in New York City last week, caused by the defection of conservative Jewish voters, has raised questions about the level of support Obama has with a traditional Democratic group of voters…
All three articles H/T Patriot Action Network
