In what seems to be a desperate last moment attempt by the United States to delay or avoid having to use its Security Council veto against the Palestinian's bid for statehood, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the vote will be delayed.
U.S. Moves to Delay Vote on Palestinian Statehood
By JAY SOLOMON
UNITED NATIONS—The U.S. and its European allies plan to delay a U.N. Security Council vote on Palestinian membership well beyond this week in a bid to revive direct peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis and sidestep an American veto, said officials briefed on the talks.
President Barack Obama will meet with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to dissuade the Palestinians from seeking U.N. recognition at the Security Council.
No doubt in the intervening time Obama will be putting pressure on both the Palestinians, but especially on Netanyahu who seems unlikely to budge according to this new article in New York Magazine.
The Tsuris
But Netanyahu knew he could get away with it—so staunch and absolute is the bipartisan support he commands in the U.S. Garishly illuminating the point, on the night before his speech to Congress, the prime minister attended the annual AIPAC policy conference in Washington, where he was the headline speaker at the event’s gala banquet. Before he took the stage, three announcers, amid flashing spotlights and in the style of the introductions at an NBA All-Star game, read the names of every prominent person in the room, including 67 senators, 286 House members, and dozens of administration and Israeli officials, foreign dignitaries, and student leaders. (The roll call took half an hour.) When Harry Reid spoke, he obliquely but unambiguously chastised Obama for endorsing the use of the 1967 lines as the basis for a peace deal: “No one should set premature parameters about borders, about building, or about anything else.” The ensuing ovation was deafening—but a mere whisper compared with the thunderous waves of applause that poured over Netanyahu.
The next day came his speech to Congress, in which he spelled out demands that were maximal by any measure: recognition by the Palestinians of Israel as a Jewish state as a precondition for negotiations, a refusal to talk if Hamas is part of the Palestinian side, an undivided Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and absolutely no right of return for Palestinian refugees. Taken as a whole, his whirlwind Washington visit provided a strong dose of clarity: With Barak having moved his newly formed Independence Party into Netanyahu’s governing coalition, its new stability has reduced to near zero the incentives for him to take the risks required for peace.
In the eyes of some observers, Netanyahu’s performance over those days suggested something else: that he was taking sides in the 2012 race. As Time’s Joe Klein sharply noted, Netanyahu “has now, overtly, tossed his support to the Republicans.” With cover from Bibi, Mitt Romney pronounced that Obama had “thrown Israel under the bus.” Michele Bachmann tweeted that his “call for 1967 borders will cause chaos, division & more aggression in Middle East and put Israel at further risk.” Tim Pawlenty (remember him?) called Obama’s policy “a disaster waiting to happen.” And Ron Paul declared, “Unlike this president, I do not believe it is our place to dictate to Israel how to run her affairs.”
Because of Bibi's intransigence I suspect Obama won't have much more substantive than the completely inadequate offer the U.S. made to Abbas. Obama still seems unwilling to apply any significant pressure on Bibi for fear of hurting his fund raising potential among American Jews.
Palestinian anger at US fuels diplomatic crisis over statehood
Nabil Shaath, a member of the team headed by President Mahmoud Abbas that left for New York said he "gulped" when he saw the proposal presented by the US team of David Hale and Dennis Ross
"This was the statement supposed to persuade Abu Mazen [Abbas] not to go?" he said. There was no mention of Israeli settlements, of the future of Jerusalem or of refugees. It also included the demand that the Palestinians recognise Israel as a "Jewish state".The US, he added, was "not a neutral observer, but a strategic ally of Israel".
The central question here is will this delay give Obama and Clinton more leverage in dealing with Netanyahu? To me it looks doubtful that it can bear fruit with Mr. Netanyahu as a roadblock.
Meanwhile I would expect the Palestinians to push ahead in the U.N. General Assembly where the U.S. is in no position to block their bid for statehood.