UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A Palestinian U.N. Security Council membership vote would be delayed while new Palestinian-Israeli peace talks begin, officials briefed on a proposal said.
The proposal, pushed by the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia -- the so-called Quartet of powers seeking to broker Middle East peace -- would have Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas submit his request for recognition to the Security Council after he speaks Friday before the annual General Assembly, the officials said. The council would then defer action while a panel studies the request.
The Quartet would issue the framework for renewed negotiations that would include a timeline for the birth of a Palestinian state, Britain's Guardian reported. The delay, which could take months, would give the Quartet time to work out a new negotiating framework acceptable to the Palestinians and Israelis, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Palestinian Authority could seek enhanced U.N. observer status through a General Assembly vote, officials said. The upgrade would give the administrative organization that governs parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip permission to join such international groups as the U.N. Human Rights Committee and the International Criminal Court.
The proposal -- which has unresolved issues, including a dispute over stopping construction of new Israeli settlements in occupied territories -- would forestall a U.N. confrontation with Washington, which has promised to veto the Palestinian bid.
It is also intended to let Abbas follow through on his commitment to Palestinians to seek Security Council recognition of an independent state -- a pledge officials said he could not abandon entirely without considerable damage to his already battered leadership.
A Quartet statement would say the end goal is a Palestinian state based on the prevailing borders before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, adjusted to some degree to account for Israeli West Bank settlements, the officials said.
The war led to Israel's occupation of the West Bank, earlier occupied by Jordan; the Gaza Strip, previously occupied by Egypt; and East Jerusalem.
The West Bank is currently controlled by the Palestinian Authority's Fatah faction, Gaza by its Hamas faction and East Jerusalem by Israel under a claim of sovereignty.
The Quartet statement would also say a result of the peace talks would be two independent countries, with Israel recognized as a Jewish state.
U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to discuss the proposal with Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in New York Wednesday after he addresses the General Assembly at 10 a.m. EDT.
Obama will try to convince Abbas the Security Council declaration is counterproductive to the Palestinians' ultimate goal because statehood requires negotiations with Israel, Ben Rhodes, deputy White House national security adviser for strategic communication, told the Journal.
Obama will make a similar point in his General Assembly speech, Rhodes said.
Obama is expected to press Netanyahu to return to the negotiating table under the 1967 prewar borders, with mutually agreed to land swaps -- a proposal Obama laid out in May. At the time, Netanyahu forcefully rejected the proposal.
Netanyahu said last month Israel would be willing to resume peace talks based on the prevailing borders before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war if the Palestinian Authority stopped seeking U.N. Palestinian state recognition and if Palestinian leaders recognized Israel as a Jewish state.
Palestinian spokesman Husam Zomlot told The Guardian Abbas remained committed to submitting the Palestinian request to the Security Council, but said the intention behind the move was to break a deadlock in the peace process.
"There is absolutely no contradiction whatsoever between our quest for United Nations full membership and any possible negotiations," he said. "In fact, we see them as very, very complementary. We are seeking this to provide any future bilateral process with sufficient multilateral cover where we don't waste another 20 years."
