Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for an international conference to advance peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians.
Abbas made the statement in a speech delivered on Tuesday to a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York.
Abbas made the statement in a speech delivered on Tuesday to a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York.
“We call for the convening of an international peace conference in mid-2018, based on international law and relevant UN resolutions, with broad international participation including the two concerned parties and the regional and international stakeholders,” Abbas said in a 30-minute speech.
In his speech, Abbas said the international conference he envisions should back a new multilateral formula that gives multiple states a role in mediating negotiations of all final-status issues.
Israel has said it will only work with an American-led peace process.
Abbas also said the Palestinians will step up efforts to gain full membership at the UN.
In his speech, Abbas said the international conference he envisions should back a new multilateral formula that gives multiple states a role in mediating negotiations of all final-status issues.
Israel has said it will only work with an American-led peace process.
Abbas also said the Palestinians will step up efforts to gain full membership at the UN.
“We will come to this council. We were rejected last time. [But] we will come again and call for [full membership],” Abbas said, later adding, “We are deserving. Oh God, we are deserving of being a full member of the Security Council.”
In 2011, Palestinian efforts to achieve full membership at the UN were unsuccessful.
Both Israel and the US have historically held that the Palestinians should not make efforts to gain full membership at the UN before a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been achieved.
The Palestinians currently have non-member observer state status at the UN.
Abbas also stated that the Palestinians still want countries that have not recognized the “State of Palestine” to do so.
In 2011, Palestinian efforts to achieve full membership at the UN were unsuccessful.
Both Israel and the US have historically held that the Palestinians should not make efforts to gain full membership at the UN before a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been achieved.
The Palestinians currently have non-member observer state status at the UN.
Abbas also stated that the Palestinians still want countries that have not recognized the “State of Palestine” to do so.
“We have gained recognition from 138 states... but we still are seeking recognition from the rest of the international community, including the member states of the Security Council,” Abbas said.
Last month, Abbas called on member states of the European Union to recognize “the State of Palestine” when he visited EU headquarters in Brussels.
While a handful of EU countries have recognized “the State of Palestine,” the most powerful EU states, including France and Germany, have not made such a move.
Following his speech, Abbas left the Security Council hall, not sticking around to hear Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon’s remarks to the UN body.
Last month, Abbas called on member states of the European Union to recognize “the State of Palestine” when he visited EU headquarters in Brussels.
While a handful of EU countries have recognized “the State of Palestine,” the most powerful EU states, including France and Germany, have not made such a move.
Following his speech, Abbas left the Security Council hall, not sticking around to hear Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon’s remarks to the UN body.
United States Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley had strong words for top Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat on Monday: "I will not shut up."
Her remarks, made at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, were a firm response to comments made by Erekat earlier this month, in which he called her "impudent" and told her to "shut up" regarding her criticisms of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Her remarks, made at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, were a firm response to comments made by Erekat earlier this month, in which he called her "impudent" and told her to "shut up" regarding her criticisms of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Abbas, who spoke earlier, left the chamber before either the Israeli or the American representatives could respond– a clear diplomatic slight.
"I'm sorry that he declined to stay in the chamber to hear remarks of others," Haley said. Both she and Israel's representative, Danny Danon, remained seated during Abbas's speech. "We welcome you as the leader of the Palestinian people here today."
"But I will decline the advice I was recently given by your top negotiator, Saeb Erekat. I will not shut up," she said. "Rather, I will respectfully speak some hard truths."
"I'm sorry that he declined to stay in the chamber to hear remarks of others," Haley said. Both she and Israel's representative, Danny Danon, remained seated during Abbas's speech. "We welcome you as the leader of the Palestinian people here today."
"But I will decline the advice I was recently given by your top negotiator, Saeb Erekat. I will not shut up," she said. "Rather, I will respectfully speak some hard truths."
Haley also disparaged the repetitive nature of the meeting's rhetoric, opening her statement by saying, "this session on the Middle East has been taking place each month for many many years, its focus has been almost entirely on issues facing Israelis and Palestinians, and we have heard many of the same arguments and ideas over and over again, we have already heard them again this morning. It is as if saying the same things repeatedly, without actually doing the hard work and making the necessary compromises, will achieve anything. "
Haley again remarked on the UN's preoccupation with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying that serious security and humanitarian challenges in Syria and other areas of the Middle East should be the topic of discussion, rather than to "sit here, month after month, and use the most democratic country in the Middle East as a scapegoat for the region's problems... but here we go again."
Haley said the administration "stands ready" to work with the Palestinian leadership. "Our negotiators are sitting behind me," she said. "But we will not chase after you."
US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Tuesday said Washington would not “chase” the Palestinians to the negotiating table with Israel, following Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech to the UN Security Council.
Speaking in front of US President Donald Trump’s top two Middle East peace negotiators — Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt — Abbas excoriated the US president’s decision last year to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and set in motion plans to move the the US embassy there, characterizing it as “an unlawful decision.”
Abbas then called for a multilateral international effort to secure Palestinian statehood, thus removing the US from its traditional role as the key mediator in negotiations.
The White House, however, said shortly after his remarks that it still planned to push ahead with finalizing its peace plan and presenting it at a later date.
Washington “will continue working on our plan, which is designed to benefit both the Israeli and Palestinian people,” said Josh Raffel, an administration spokesman. “We will present it when it is done and the time is right.”
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace team made an exceptional trip to UN headquarters in New York to attend the address by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, hoping to hear “fresh and constructive ideas” that might lead to talks with Israel toward a peace settlement.
What they received instead was a scolding from the Palestinian leader, still furious over Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to move the US Embassy there.
What they received instead was a scolding from the Palestinian leader, still furious over Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to move the US Embassy there.
"This administration undertook an unlawful decision," Abbas said of Trump's Jerusalem move. He chastised the administration for cutting support to the UN Relief and Works Agency, which offers aid to Palestinian refugees and their descendants, warning that their abandonment might lead some to terror in far reaches of the West.
A White House spokesman, Josh Raffel, said that Kushner and Greenblatt are "finalizing" the administration's peace plan– a detailed document that has produced hundreds of pages, and that offers specific proposals to some of the toughest sticking points in the conflict. But while Abbas claimed he had never turned down an offer to enter talks, he did not express any interest in the pending American plan.
"We have expressed our absolute readiness to reach an historic peace agreement," he said. But he added: "No country alone can solve a regional or international conflict without the participation of other international partners."
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law leading his peace effort; Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s special representative for international negotiations; and Nikki Haley, US envoy to the UN, sat stone-faced at the Security Council roundtable as the PA president spoke.
A White House spokesman, Josh Raffel, said that Kushner and Greenblatt are "finalizing" the administration's peace plan– a detailed document that has produced hundreds of pages, and that offers specific proposals to some of the toughest sticking points in the conflict. But while Abbas claimed he had never turned down an offer to enter talks, he did not express any interest in the pending American plan.
"We have expressed our absolute readiness to reach an historic peace agreement," he said. But he added: "No country alone can solve a regional or international conflict without the participation of other international partners."
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law leading his peace effort; Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s special representative for international negotiations; and Nikki Haley, US envoy to the UN, sat stone-faced at the Security Council roundtable as the PA president spoke.
"It is essential to set up a multinational international mechanism," Abbas continued, calling for an international peace conference similar to one held in Paris last year.
Abbas refrained from repeating some of the harshest rhetoric he has leveled at the Americans in recent weeks, in which he has dismissed Trump's role in any future peace process outright. But he left the chamber before either the Israeli or the American representatives could respond– a clear diplomatic slight.
"I'm sorry that he declined to stay in the chamber to hear remarks of others," Haley said. Both she and Israel's representative, Danny Danon, remained seated during Abbas' speech. "We welcome you as the leader of the Palestinian people here today."
Abbas refrained from repeating some of the harshest rhetoric he has leveled at the Americans in recent weeks, in which he has dismissed Trump's role in any future peace process outright. But he left the chamber before either the Israeli or the American representatives could respond– a clear diplomatic slight.
"I'm sorry that he declined to stay in the chamber to hear remarks of others," Haley said. Both she and Israel's representative, Danny Danon, remained seated during Abbas' speech. "We welcome you as the leader of the Palestinian people here today."
Haley said the administration "stands ready" to work with the Palestinian leadership. "Our negotiators are sitting behind me," she said. "But we will not chase after you."
"You don't have to like that decision," she said, of Trump's Jerusalem move. "You don't have to praise it. You don't even have to accept it. But know this: That decision will not change."
"You don't have to like that decision," she said, of Trump's Jerusalem move. "You don't have to praise it. You don't even have to accept it. But know this: That decision will not change."
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