NEW YORK, July 26 (UPI) -- Israel's United Nations ambassador told the Security Council Tuesday the move for Palestinian statehood in September will not advance peace in the region.
At the monthly U.N. debate on the Middle East situation in New York, Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor turned to the Palestinian ambassador, Riyad Mansour, and asked: "On behalf of whom will you present a resolution in September? ... [Palestinian President Mahmoud] Abbas or Hamas? Will it be on behalf of both the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas terrorist organization, which advances a charter calling for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews? Will it be on behalf of Akram Haniyeh the PA's chief spokesman or Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister in Gaza?" Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post reported.
Prosor said the United Nations must vote against the Arabs' unilateral push for statehood, and the Arabs' recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and Israel's security must precede any final agreement on a two-state solution.
He said any Palestinian state must be demilitarized and teaching hatred of Israel must be halted.
"Take Israel's outstretched hand. Seize the opportunities before us to advance down the real road toward peace; a road of solutions not resolutions; dialogue not monologue; and direct negotiations not unilateral declarations," he said.
