Threat to Cut Cooperation with Israel if Palestinian Resolution is Not Passed

Mahmoud Abbas threatened on Tuesday, December 23, that the Palestinian Authority may "violate treaties with Israel and cut all cooperation with Israel." According to Arab and Palestinian media, Mr. Abbas stated that this warning would be enacted if the resolution presented to the United Nations Security Council regarding an independent Palestinian state is not approved. The draft resolution for the establishment of a Palestinian state within the borders prior to the 1967 war, with Jerusalem as its capital and "ending the occupation of Palestinian lands" by 2017, was submitted to the Security Council by Jordan last week. However, according to the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, if this plan does not receive votes from the member states of the Security Council, this situation will be "the beginning of an end" in cooperation with Israel. Although political negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have been completely stalled since last year, extensive cooperation, including in security matters, continues between the Authority and Israel. According to reports, Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas), who traveled to Algeria, stated on Tuesday in that country: "The consequences of ending cooperation with Israel fall on the shoulders of the occupying government." Mr. Abbas urged the Security Council to take advantage of "this last chance for a final resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." Mahmoud Abbas added in a press conference at the Algerian Foreign Ministry that "the Palestinian issue is both the key to peace in the Middle East and the key to war in this region, and the Palestinian diplomatic campaign to isolate Israel globally will succeed." Despite the submission of the draft resolution for the establishment of a Palestinian state to the Security Council, the Palestinians have not yet been able to secure the support of 9 out of 15 permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council for this plan. While there is a possibility of a veto by the United States due to its explicit opposition to this plan, Mohamed Sobhi, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Arab League, called on the Washington government on Monday not to use its veto. The United States has vetoed proposals presented to the Security Council against Israel 41 times so far. The Palestinian delegation headed by Saeb Erekat, which has begun a series of trips to garner support from Security Council member states for the Palestinian state proposal, met on Monday, December 23, in Moscow with Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister. Despite Russia's principled support for the Palestinian state proposal, Israeli and Palestinian media reported that Mr. Lavrov did not explicitly state whether his country would support this plan or not. Despite senior Palestinian officials emphasizing the necessity of passing this plan, they have recently stated that they are ready to make changes to the plan to garner the necessary support. Palestinian and Russian media have also reported in recent days that Mahmoud Abbas is prepared to request a postponement of the vote on this plan if necessary. Riyad al-Maliki, the Palestinian Foreign Minister, stated on Tuesday that we will not oppose amending this plan to increase its chances of approval.