Ron Prosor
Ron ProsorReuters

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, on Monday hit out at European governments for "failing us again," singling out Sweden's "historic mistake" of recognizing the “state of Palestine”.

European parliaments voting to recognize Palestine are "giving the Palestinians exactly what they want -- statehood without peace," Prosor told the UN General Assembly.

"By handing them a state on a silver platter, you are rewarding unilateral actions and taking away any incentive for the Palestinians to negotiate or compromise or renounce violence," he added.

The comments come as countries in Europe are continuing to lend a hand to the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) unilateral bid to achieve statehood by recognizing a Palestinian state.

British lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on October 13 in favor of a non-binding motion to "recognize the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution".

Sweden announced on October 30 it officially recognized the state of Palestine, a move criticized by Israel and the United States.

Last week, Spanish lawmakers adopted a motion calling on the government to recognize a Palestinian state, and France has announced an upcoming vote on the matter as well.

Meanwhile, the PA is still planning to formally submit to the UN Security Council a draft resolution calling for an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria in 2016.

The UN bid was announced in September at the UN General Assembly, when PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas threatened unilateral action in asking the Security Council to demand a deadline for Israel to withdraw from its Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria.

Specifically, the resolution calls for the "full withdrawal of Israel, the occupying power, from all of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, as rapidly as possible and to be fully completed within a specified time-frame, not to exceed November 2016".

Despite PA statements that the text would come up for a vote in November, the PA’ representative to the UN, Riyad Mansour, told AFP on Monday no date had been set for the draft to be discussed at the 15-member council.