Netanyahu, Obama and Abbas
Netanyahu, Obama and AbbasIsrael news photo: Flash 90

The Obama administration is making a desperate last-minute attempt to return to the “peace process” and stop the Palestinian Authority from going to the United Nations for recognition, The New York Times reported Sunday morning.

It said that the United States has presented a new proposal to bring PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas back to direct discussions with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, but while ”the Israelis have so far responded positively to the draft… the Palestinian position remains unclear.”

Details of the proposal are not known, but it generally reflects President Barack Obama’s new “roadmap” he stated in May, including a return to old borders with the possibility of “land swaps.”

Abbas has rejected the idea, and there is a near-zero chance that Arabs with Israeli citizenship would agree to give up their rights and become citizens of a Palestinian Authority country.

Abbas also has refused to recognize Israel as a “Jewish state,” a statement that would preclude fulfilling his desire to flood Israel with several million foreign Arabs claiming the right to live in the country.

The State Department has appealed to approximately 70 countries to vote against a General Assembly non-binding resolution that would recognize the Palestinian Authority as an independent state based on its unilateral territorial demands.

The pro-Arab General Assembly is almost certain to back the resolution, but the United States is trying to narrow the margin if it cannot convince Abbas to return to talks with Israel.

The resolution, if passed, would change the Palestinian Authority’s status from a non-voting observer to that of a “state” although it would not have full membership.

However, the PA would be able to join United Nations committees and run to the International Criminal Court with charges against Israel.

Formal membership would have to go through the United Nations Security Council, where the United States would probably exercise a veto.

The Times said that the Obama administration is afraid that the symbolic recognition and/or an American veto might spark violence throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza.