The United States Administration has made clear to the Palestinian Authority that a unilateral declaration of statehood by the PA is not an option, PA negotiator Saeb Erekat said. He spoke on Israel Channel 2 television’s Meet the Press.
Having freshly returned from a trip to the US, Erekat said that he understood from the Americans that in case of a unilateral declaration of statehood coupled with a plea for United Nations recognition, US funding of the PA might be cut.
“We do not come to the UN to unilaterally declare statehood,” Erekat said. “We do not come to the UN to request recognition. We come to request acceptance. We want the UN to accept a Palestinian state within ’67 borders that will live in peace and security side-by-side with Israel. But the Americans said that the UN is not an option. Following that, we told them that our option is negotiation.”
“Netanyahu succeeded in driving us away from the negotiation room,” the veteran negotiator said. “We want to go back to negotiation. This is [PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s] option. If Mr. Netanyahu refuses to say ‘two states along 1967 lines’ – he can say it in English, Russian, Hebrew, Latin or any language he chooses – if he continues to build settlements, if the US chooses to veto the proposal to accept us into the UN and if the US Congress decides to cut us off and stop our aid, then Netanyahu can invite both houses of Congress to the settlement of Beit El. I think he will be the only leader between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean.”
Erekat appeared to hint that unless Israel accepts the 1949 Armistice lines, the PA will adopt an even tougher stance. “In September, if Netanyahu chooses settlements over peace, if he chooses PR over reality, if he chooses the past over the future, we will have to tell the Palestinians, ‘yes, we gave him a chance, we did the best we could, we recognized the state of Israel, but we failed!’”