JERUSALEM - Israel's plan to build new homes on occupied land should be countered by international recognition of a Palestinian state, the chief Palestinian negotiator said on Tuesday. Raising the stakes in the deadlock over stalled peace talks, Saeb Erekat said it was clear from the latest announcement of building plans that Israel wants settlements, not peace.
| Since there doesn't seem to be be a hope in hell that the Palestinians will settle for peace in this generation. |
"Israeli unilateralism is a call for immediate international recognition of the Palestinian state," he said in a statement.
| Oh, we recognize you for what you are ... |
The world paid little attention when the late Yasser Arafat declared a Palestinian state in 1988.
| But did the English match the Arabic? With dear, dear Yasser Arafat, it usually didn't. |
But political winds have shifted and Israel today is seriously concerned that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas might win recognition.
Abbas has floated the idea of "going to the United Nations" to declare statehood as one option if peace talks collapse, but only after first seeking support from Washington.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad embarked on a two-year plan in 2009 to construct the complete institutional framework of a state by mid-2011. It has won European Union backing and warnings from Israeli analysts that Fayyad should be taken seriously.
"I firmly believe this can happen, that it will happen. We need to build up a sense of inevitability about this. I think it will happen next year," Fayyad told Reuters in an interview earlier this month.
"The more it is seen to be inevitable, the more likely it will get to a resolution," he added.
The prospect of the United States recognising an independent Palestine without the agreement of Israel seems very remote. But Israeli analysts speculate that President Barack Obama could threaten to abstain rather than veto a UN resolution if he believes Israel is obstructing the path to a peace treaty.
A World Bank report last month said that if the Palestinian Authority keeps up its "performance in institution-building and delivery of public services, it is well-positioned for the establishment of a state at any point in the near future". |